So you think you are a Christian

(a short sermon on the tenets

of the Christian faith)

Those who are the Children of God

The true children of God are chosen and have a union, a union with Christ, a union before the
foundation of the world (Eph.1.4) “According as he hath chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”
“Chosen in him.” “One with Christ.” Some will have it that the union with Christ began at the
time of their conversion, when “we accepted Christ into our hearts”. Others, that Christ new
who was going to pick him and who would reject him. Pelagianism and Arminianism have no
part in Revealed Religion. Pelagianism teaches that anyone can turn up, whenever they wish
and take Christ as their saviour. Unlike the Pelagians we are taught that man is a Totally
Depraved being who desires not to know God, that man’s thoughts are totally selfish and his
action's base. He will not choose God over himself. He deems himself more important as he
struts and strides his world. Every fibre of man is corrupt, as it is written “There is none
righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”
(Rom.3.10,11) The best of men are but vanity, wind and confusion and altogether intolerable
when left to themselves.

Due to our sinful, fallen state God cannot look upon us as his own, cannot look upon us any
differently than other sinners that inhabit the kingdom of darkness, who walk according to the
course of this world and to the dictates of its prince and their ruler (Eph.2.2,3) “Wherein in
time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom
also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh and of the mind; and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” It was because of our iniquity that we
ended up in this captivity and it was God that handed us into the hands of our enemies; he
actively gave us up to be tormented and to abide in the kingdom of darkness. (Ezek.39.23)
We may indeed go further and say that each and every day God’s righteous anger is against
all that do sin, all that remain in sin and perform iniquity (Ps.7.11), that in the heart there is
no rest to the wicked, day or night (Rev.16.9) as God’s inflexible justice is never satisfied by
anyone, though some may attempt to appease God by employing them in his work but this
only incurs more wrath and displeasure, even from the Son of righteousness himself
(Rev.6.16) whom many will avow loves the sinner and sits pleading with him to turn to him
and be saved as his Father looks on shaking his head in disbelief that the sinner will not turn
to embrace Christ and him crucified. Such talk is irreverent and atheistical.

Because of this state of affairs our union had to be in Christ before the foundation of the
world, we had to be chosen in Christ in order that when God should look upon us, even in our
sinful condition, he would see his son and so, not turn his face away from us in respect of our
salvation. (Eph.1.4) “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” The elect are chosen
and safe in Christ before the foundation of the world and shall be so throughout eternity. But
why did God perform such a union in the first place? Because he is who he is (Eph.1.5)
“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will.” His will be done, not ours. This is The Unconditional
Election that forms one body of believers, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone, the head
of the body, which is unwelcome to those who believe in the Rapture as they teach that the
Church, the body of all believers is torn apart and that those who are ready shall enter heaven
and then miraculously the earthly Jews are saved on mass, forming another Church that
Christ shall take with him to heaven and so prove to be a bigamist, having two brides.
Election, or supralapsarianism is a difficult thing to accept and yet we are to accept it because
God has spoken it, teaches it as part of his immutable council. It is hard because who made
the difference, for all are under sin? None deserve salvation.

It is impossible for God to save and convert any soul that he has not chosen in Christ. God
has bound himself in this matter and man cannot alter the mind of God. Those who do not
have this union cannot have the inheritance (Eph.1.11) “In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the council of his own will”. Our inheritance was laid up in Christ, the inheritance of
salvation and all that we find within it, which is of great joy to our hearts. When Christ died
we, in time, came into our inheritance. God will have all his children to inherit (Acts.2.47)
“Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved.” Yes! Salvation is a sure and certain thing that cannot be either made
of none effect by the disbelief of man or taken away by the sin of man, that God does not sit
as an impotent being who stands back and is unable to control man and events.

There are some who teach and persist in teaching that God saw who would be saved, who
would commit their lives to Jesus Christ and so save them. These Pelagians who persist in
this school of thought do not fully appreciate man’s original condition, that man is a totally
depraved being, that man cannot and will not choose God. Unlike ignorant, wicked man,
God does not look across time to see who would “put their hands up for Christ”, as time did
not exist until God created it and unfurled his plan. It may be unpalatable for the corrupt
carnal mind to accept the ways of the Lord, but this should not give way to lies and false
doctrine. The Creator of all things has an eternal plan and in the beginning of the world he
began to unfold that plan, to execute it. God does not plan in time, only in eternity, and we
should give to him the adulation he deserves (Rev.4.11) “Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and
were created”. We should also remind ourselves (Deut.29.29) “The secret things belong unto
the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children
for ever, that we may do all the words of the law.” That which the Lord reveals he reveals,
though listening to some, God has revealed all things to them, and that they are the great
ones, far above the rest of the crowd. Proud, haughty and ignorant they are that shall find out
that their brashness and arrogance comes with a price, and that their reward is laid up for
them in that world to come.

Our Creator and our God is answerable to no one but himself. If he had dained not to have
planned and created all things, nothing would have been brought into being, none of our lives
would have happened, the world would never have existed, we would not have been here to
know anything about a Creator or his eternal plan. If God has decided to make a difference
between human kind he has every right to do so, after all we are his creation and he can do
with us as he pleases, as he sees fit. If God were to throw down every edifice of man’s
making or rid the world of him, he could do so and is only answerable to himself. We should
not display the spirit of the world, a world that hates its Creator. We should not fall out and
side with the wicked and dissemble with God (Rom.9.20) “Nay but, O man, who art thou
that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou
made me thus?” And again, (Rom.9.21) “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same
lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another to dishonour?” It is a hard truth but
nevertheless truth, strong meat. It is a fearful thing to consider that we could have been the
vessels of dishonour, vessels fit for destruction. Who made the difference between us and the
children of the devil? What could we have said to God if he had made us to be children and
off-spring of Satan? Nothing! Our finite, meagre minds do not fully comprehend all this and
more that the Lord has determined, but we do know that we shall be satisfied with the
outcome, when in our spirits we become aware just how marvellous are his works. We rest in
the knowledge that the God of the whole earth will do right and we see but little and
understand even less (1 Col.13.12) “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to
face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

Our union with Christ is realised in time, at the point of our conversion. The union is likened
to that of a vine (Jhn.15.1-15) the vine is representative of Christ and the true branches that of
believers that bear much fruit according to their union with the vine itself. There are false
believers mentioned here and depicted as dead wood, as there will always be false professors
of revealed religion seen alongside believers and so convincing they are in their formal
religion that their walk comes close to passing off as the real thing, hence the closeness
within scripture. There is a day coming in which this shall not be the case. The ungodly Jew
and the ungodly Gentile shall be separated from the children of God. (Matt.25.33) All true
believers abide in Christ and in the fulness of time come to realise this. Now, once made
alive unto God the believer begins to draw from the Head to which he is indissolubly united,
and the they begin to draw all that is necessary for their continuance as living branches
proceeding forth from a living vine. One of the fruits of union is that of faith which is given
to us and made to feel ours when it comes for us to be called to repentance. Faith proceeds as
part and parcel of our covenant relationship and union with Christ and is not a seed that is
naturally to be found in any man without God first planting it there. It is because the elect
have such a covenant relationship that God looks upon them in Christ, (Eph.1.4) no longer
does God look away from them (Ezek.39.29) and therefore he can stir up his spirit to quicken
them to see their sinful nature and bring them to repentance, having previously hidden his
face (v.24).

The relationship between Christ and believers is a very intimate one that finds its expression
at Calvary. On Calvary Christ bore the inflexible justice and vindicative wrath of his Father
for sin, for the broken law, that culminated in his death and consequent resurrection as he and
he alone laid down his life on behalf of his people and because he had to power to lay it down
he was able to take it again. Christ took all the punishment on behalf of his and his fathers
children, that he did this for a select few (Mrk.14.24) whose names he took to Calvary’s
mount and bore them there that he might know each and everyone he was sacrificing himself
for (Rev.17.8) and so personal was this work that it can justifiably be asserted that when
Christ was condemned he was condemned for the sins of every believer, and again, when
Christ was judged, he was judged for every believer, and again, when Christ was crucified for
sin he was crucified for every believer, when Christ suffered hell he did so for every believer,
and that when Christ rose every believer rose with him. (Col.3.1; Rom.8.30) In an objective
sense we were judged, crucified, died and rose with him as our Surety and our Federal head,
he being the second Adam, the more perfect man and such was the closeness and intimacy,
that the sacrifice was not performed for just anyone, and anyone that would care to come
along and fancied the look of Christianity, making it their way of life. No! Christ represented
every individual believer that he came to save

If we set aside election, to satisfy some corrupt minds, and hold to a God of mercy only,
setting aside his righteousness and vindicative justice, then we must set aside scripture to do
this. We no where, for instance read of God running after the angels that left their first state or
that he made them so that they would not leave their angelic condition. The Creator of all
things could have prevented them from falling for he is the ultimate power and performs all
things to perfection as his nature is that of perfection, and yet they fall and he continues to
leave them to their own divices, to go their own way, neither do we read of him checking the
rest of the angels in the event of total mutiny, equally we do not read of the mutinous angels
encouraging the good angels to rebel. If it had been our Maker’s will there would have been
no fallen angels and no devil in the garden, and no sin, and all would have continued on as it
was first created, one immense paradise. The only part of his creation he sought after and
reconciled to himself was Adam and Eve. From this it is intimated that God had a plan and
that it was being played out for all to see. In all this the Lord committed no sin, though
wicked hearts may shout and berate us that God is the author of it. These things are far above
us and we cannot even begin to comprehend the mind of God in all this but bow to the truth
that God will never do anything that is wrong, though it may appear to carnal minds that this
is the case as they judge God, who is a limitless being by their limited understanding. There
is no match between the mind of God and that of man. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right? (Gen.18.25)

Because we are elected and chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and the fact
that Christ died for us, we must acknowledge the element of Preveniancy, the Preveniant
Grace of God in preventing us from not obtaining our inheritance. No heir of such an
inheritance shall ever pass through this world without first taking hold of his inheritance, they
shall be preserved until they are brought into the fold of God (Rev.9.4) “And it was
commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing,
neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” The
people of God are different than those who are the children of the devil, they are a marked
and a sealed people, a peculiar people that have the mark of God upon them. The world of
fallen spirits understand that there are some amongst them, within their kingdom that are
different, that should not be there, that belong to the Creator, above all others (Rev.14.1)
“And I looked, and, Lo, a Lamb stood on mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and
four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” Also (Ezek.39.23). The
devil is not short to copy (Rev.16.2) “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the
earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the
beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.” The beast being that of the devil
(Rev.11.7 “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of
the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”)
and his image that of the Papacy, even as Christ is the image of God.

The Children of God are Effectually Called

The elect are called out from the world by the Effectual Calling of God, by the attendant
Spirit going along with the word of truth (Jam.1.18) “Of his own will begat he us with the
word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures”. Matthew is Effectually
called. He does not answer but follows the call (Matt.9.9) It is of the will of God that we
should be called by the truth (Law and Gospel) and that he draws us to himself, rather than
we draw ourselves to him ((John.6.44) “No man cometh to me, except the Father which hath
sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Saul of Tarsus new what it was to
be Effectually called of God as he pursued after the Christians. He was stopped dead in his
tracks, his journey in this world came to an abrupt halt, by an Act of God, and as he was
called so he was converted. All those with Saul were left standing, only hearing a voice, but
not called to repentance. (Acts.9.7) “And the men which journeyed with him stood
speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.” If salvation was universal these servants had
a bad deal, so to speak, as they witnessed what they witnessed and were still left in their sins.
These persons, above all, were prime candidates for “putting their faith in Christ”. They had
no interest in the Saviour’s blood, for he did not die for them. Only Saul was called in accord
with being chosen of God (Rom.8.30) “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also
called; and whom he called, them he also justified.” Paul declares the perfect tense in which
believers are to be viewed, and hence, when we read of believers in the book of Revelation
we read of them as those united and saved, coming together as one, though not all having yet
entered into the benefit of their inheritance in the Lord, but so confirmed that Paul speaks of
them as having inherited their salvation. What God proposes will come to pass. Only Israel
shall be saved, the heavenly Israel. God having turned his face away from us and denied us
his Spirit, yet in the fulness of his time he takes a fancy to us again, so to speak .(Ezek.39.29)
“Neither will I hide my face anymore from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the
house of Israel, saith the Lord God.”

If the word of truth does not become effectual to the hearers, to the salvation of their souls, it
is not the fault of the word, or that of its hearers, but it is because the Lord will not allow it to
be so, as there are some within this world for whom Christ did not die, for whom salvation
has not been purchased, and it is wickedness to preach and to teach that Christ suffered on the
cross for all. Salvation was only purchased for the children of God, not the children of the
devil (John.12.40) “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts; that they should not
see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal
them.” God would not have these people converted and no matter what god is fashioned
within the carnal minds of men, our God is a just God and will not mock the sacrifice of his
Son. To some the word comes as a winged messenger of life unto life and to others of death
unto death (John.15.22) “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but
now they have no cloak for their sin”. If we were to express these words today it would sound
like heresy in the ears of multitudes of professing Christians and we would be castigated for
being unchristian, hard and uncaring, looked upon as being evil and wicked and to be avoided
at all cost. Many make a profession of Christ but do not follow him, if they did they would
own his words and his ways and love him for who he is, but they have no time for the real
Christ; they would rather fashion a saviour after their own corrupt thinking, a comfortable
Christ who is meek and mild and inoffensive, that speaks ‘love’ to all even to the most
wicked amongst us and this titular christ is set up on the altar of their hearts and worshipped
there. To such child abusers, rapists, murderers, etc., all have Christ with them, are loved of
the Lord who would stand with them seeking their repentance.

The Children of God are both Convicted and Repentant

Conviction and Repentance are also a works of the Holy Ghost who enlightens and
regenerates a soul and works within their hearts to show them what state they are in and like
Effectual Calling conviction and repentance is part and parcel of all that is pure and holy that
goes to make up the revealed Christian religion. We witness this in Saul of Tarsus. It came as
a defining moment in his life, as it does for all the elect of God, a moment in which he and all
of us begin to realise that we are sinners and that we cannot come before a holy and righteous
God (Lke.5.8), that we stand beneath mount Sinai and the broken law of an offended God,
that mount Sinai burns with fire, with sounds of terrible thundering and blackness and
darkness that is felt within our innermost being. It is a dark night for our souls. Hell above
and hell beneath us, O! Where shall we go from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne?
What must we do to be saved from such terrors? Let the mountains and rocks fall upon us to
hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne. We cannot tell which way to run as
our hearts are in so much anguish and in a condition that hitherto we have never experienced
before. Such blackness and darkness and tribulation. We are not alone (Acts.2.37,38) “Now
when they had heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest
of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”. Also (Acts.16.29,30) “Then he called for a light, and
sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out,
and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved.” In a state of conviction the jailer, like ourselves,
was pointed to the Lord (v.31) “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved, and thy house.” Though repentance is not here mentioned, the narrative is
shortened (the same occurred in the narrative between Eve and the serpent. “Yea, hath not
God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.” This presupposes that Eve had already
spoken but the narrative only has her speaking after the serpent has given her a reply). If
every word was written down that was ever spoken in the scriptures we could never take it all
in let alone store it. Now this man went through a state of repentance and belief in the Lord.
He did not just decide one day to repent but was convicted of sin and was in a terrible state,
even as we are when first convicted of sin and come to repentance because of being
convicted. If the jailor and ourselves had not been granted repentance then he and ourselves
would not be saved. (Lke.13.3) “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish”. God will never leave us in a distressed state but what he has begun he will see it
through and it is by his Spirit that we are awakened and led to repentance.

Only those who come through great tribulation of soul can be counted and looked upon as the
children, the elect of God. (Rev.7.14) “And I said unto him, Sir, though nowest. And he said
to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb”. All in the past tense (Rom.8.30) We cannot, as
some do, separate going through Tribulation and being Washed in the Blood of the Lamb, to
make them to appear at different periods in time, and to invert, to turn around the words so
that washing comes before tribulation, for they will not disallow that we must be washed in
the blood of the Lamb in order to be saved. And so it is that so many wickedly misuse and
abuse and treat sacrilegiously the word of God, but to this end they were appointed.
(2.Pet.2.1-3) There are those who will go as far as to add their own words to the word of God
so as to reflect their doctrinal stance in this matter, and so we have the word “The” added to
the more recent of scripture so that the text may read “The Tribulation. The wicked will
undermine fundamental Christian doctrine for their own ends as they have no fear of God
before their eyes and damnation in their hearts (Rev.22.18) for by removing the word “these
are they which came out of great tribulation,” and transferring them to another time cross out
their own salvation, leave out conviction for sin and so they have no salvation, no matter
what they may argue, for as it is stated conviction comes before washing, the stain of sin
must be seen before the remedy can be applied. If we were to look into their eyes we would
see the devil staring back at us for they are full of darkness, given over to it. (Matt.6.23)
Before being washed we must be troubled about our state before God, our world must be
shaken to its foundations, the citadels of hell must be thrown down, (Rev.8.5) all that we are
must be destroyed, the temple of doom that we have erected to self must come crashing down
with all its various heads. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim is said to be in terrible fits of soul, with a
book in his hand, his back to the city of destruction and crying out with a lamentable cry
“What shall I do?” He did not know what to do; he was in such a fit, that he could not see a
way of escape. Eventually he was led to the Evangelist who gave him some good advice and
eventually we witness the burden of sin rolling down the hill, into the sepulchre to be seen no
more. Those who merely walk down the aisles of meeting houses to put ‘their faith in Christ’
with no discernible conviction and trembling and brokeness of heart are fools and shall perish
as such in their sins having not felt the burden of them.

The terrors of a broken law are no longer preached or mentioned today, and the very thing
that Christ rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for is the very same thing that goes on at this
present time. So many professors of religion are taken up with inordinate religious rites and
rituals and outward show, having cast aside the weightier matters of the law and of judgement
(Matt.23.23) “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and
anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy, and
faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone”. Today there is no
broken law and no judgement to come, only mercy and faith. The godless, secular attitude is
not to preach the law of God and the consequences of its being broken and man being unable
to fulfil its demands, as this only upsets people, and we cannot have that, can we! No! Let a
soul go to hell, rather than disturb him. The notional, secular believer will inform us “You
should not upset people by preaching and teaching anything of judgement to come. We
simply should preach Jesus. Yes! we must not offend our hearers but encourage them to put
their faith in Christ.” They claim their christ is far better than the Lord Jesus Christ as the
Lord Jesus Christ is too singular and has a side that they do not like. Since these persons are
but formalists, they know nothing of the reality of the judgement to come and will, therefore,
not warn the wicked of his wickedness. (Ezek.3.18) Indeed, they cannot warn the wicked for
they are themselves wicked and are going about doing the devil’s dirty work. Wickedness is
not loathsome to them, they do not hate it with a passion, but move away from uttering its
very name. Their lives are not marked out as the righteous are. (Prov.8.13; Ezek.9.4)

There are those who in times of great affliction and distress may turn to God for relief.
(Exod.9.27,28) They will begin by owning their sin and the trouble that they are in and seek
relief from God, their Creator, and from none other but he who made them, but this is not for
ever for as soon as the Lord’s visitation and judgement is passed and their distress passed
with it, then it is back to business as usual, back to where they left off, (2.Pet.2.22) as pliable
spirits within the world of common grace. (Exod.9.34) They quickly forget the trouble that
they were in and just whose hand delivered them out of it, who it was that began the tempest
of their lives, and who calmed the storm (Ps.107.6,13,19,28) and saved them from themselves
and from others. They are far from the spirit of John Newton whose cries were heard of the
Lord and he did not turn back to his old ways but went the ways of the Lord. The more these
persons proceed along the course that they have set before them the harder their hearts
become (Exod.8.15) until such times that nothing can be done for them, they having angered
the Lord in not accepting his salvation. What might have been for their benefit is now seen to
be for their destruction. (Rev.6.16) All such maybe provided for in the kingdom of
providence, as God is propitious to all his creatures, (Lke.6.35) but their end is assured and is
not a good one even as their own hearts testify against them, that they carry the seed and
earnestness of hell within their souls, giving expression to their ungodly lives, that
earnestness that shall be filled up in the process of time and overflow, hereafter. Equally,
there are those who take up a religious life because of their troubles and yet for all that they
are no better than when they first set out and when trying times come, as they will, they
cannot weather the storm that beats around them and they depart from The Faith having never
been in it, never having had their feet firmly planted upon the rock of salvation (Lke.6.48),
though some will weather the storm and put on their various garments and mitres and some
their best Sunday outfit, whilst other put on their best cut jeans and dirty t shirts and strum
their guitars to the latest medley.

All those who claim that we should merely preach Christ crucified, in order that souls might
be saved, are doing the devil’s dirty work and are deceivers, have allied themselves with the
devil, have taken the field with him in opposition to God. It is wicked to teach and to preach
that all must come to Christ without first having gone to Moses, for Moses is our school
master to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Both Moses and Christ come
together in the salvation of souls (Gal.3.24) and cannot be separated and divorced as wicked
individuals do today who go about preaching another gospel, a gospel devoid of
righteousness and of judgement to come, of an offended God and his vindicative judgement
towards and upon the souls of men, an Almighty God who is casting souls into hell, into that
oven that shall never be full or done away with. Only those that have come the way of Moses
and of Christ have come the way of the Cross of Christ, all others are false brethren, wolves
in sheep's clothing for all the risen of the Lord collectively bless Moses and Christ, and their
hearts sing praises to both of them as a marriage made in heaven that many have annulled
upon earth. (Rev.15.3) “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of
the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are
thy ways, thou King of saints.” We sing the song of Moses because he is the servant of God,
and is only the servant, for he leads to the only one that can justify souls, even to Christ.
Observance of law cannot save, cannot justify anyone found under it. (Gal.3.10) Although a
servant to the gospel Moses and Christ are united and each have a song, that the redeemed
sing, as joy in finding Moses leads to joy in finding Christ. Unlike the Antinomians we bless
and sing the praises of the law as it was made to show us where we truly stood before God.
Both Christ and Moses come harmoniously together with one accord in the salvation of souls
and we bless them both. This is so for all the redeemed of the Lord and a mark of their being
believers. It has to be said that if professors of Christianity refuse to preach Moses, then God
will overrule as he does in the Roman Catholic Church (Rev.18.4), and in other ungodly
denominations that sprout up likes weeds in the garden of the Lord, that we trample
underfoot. The sinner will always be brought to view the broken law and the terror of it, even
though it may not have been preached to him, for God by his spirit will overrule man and will
not have ignorance put in his way but will brush man aside and send his word to accomplish
that which he sends it out to accomplish (Isa.55.11) but there are dire consequences for
society in not preaching the law of God No man will ever feel the need of a physician as long
as he does not perceive himself to be sick. Tell a man he needs to go to the doctor and he will
ask why. If he is not made fully aware of the seriousness of his case and does not feel that he
is in dire need of a physician he will carry on as though there were nothing to fear, he will
simply ignore the speaker and go on his merry way, this does not discount the fact that many
gullible and lonely souls may be taken in and deceived into following another Christ, or that
the devil will not have some of his people, purposely take on the cloak of Revealed Religion
in order to lead saved souls into error and to spoil their houses so that they might not enjoy all
that they should enjoy in the Lord as they are enticed into falsehood of one sort or another, to
look to self and to the world, rather than to Christ, and to this end the emissaries of the Devil
muddy the waters.

Some would say that if the children of God are elected to salvation there is no point in
preaching the gospel. If persons are of this persuasion what are they doing speaking about
things that they know not of? For such reasoning opposes the very God who brought the law
into being and would not have it cast to oneside as being meaningless. It is our duty to
convey the standards and the truth of God’s word to our fellow man, for we are not born
again to uphold Antinomian teaching, but the royal law of God. We uphold the law as (1).
We do not know who is or is not the elect of the Lord. (2) Man still has a duty toward his
maker to walk according to that law that has been placed within his heart, that he should not
lie, steal, commit adultery, covet, serve other gods, and should endeavour to do what is right
and to deal honestly and fairly with his fellow men. There are dire consequences to not
preaching the law of God and reminding our fellow man of his duty toward his Maker and
each other, that right rules and regulations, morals and ethical standards are continuously to
be preached to men who need persistently, as we all do, to be reminded of what God requires
of us all. Because so called Evangelicals have run off and decided to preach another Christ,
that they have plucked from the kingdom of hell, man has had the greatest wickedness and
disservice done to him in not reminding him of what should go to constitute both his peace
and prosperity in the world. These wet-nosed preachers of nonsense God will punish within
an inch of their lives and will be found to be children not of his calling. God maybe the
father of the righteous, in particular but he is also the father of mankind in general, which is
denied in the ministry of the Cross of Christ in thousands of ‘Christian churches'. It is the
Creator, alone, who supplies the natural world with all its needs and in return all that is asked
of man is that he follow after righteousness. If fallen man were to follow the law there would
be less trouble and strife in the world, and let the Antinomions be honest that it is far better to
follow the law of God than to follow no law at all or to be immoral or to follow man’s idea of
what is just and what is right, after all, man keeps on changing what is right as his
perception of it changes as quickly he changes his cloths. What is in fashion today is out of
fashion tomorrow. It is falsehood to believe and to propagate the idea that governments
legislate morality. Governments, when looking to make laws need to look to God and true
justice without any favour or fear of men, but they will not for they are full of themselves.
They should always bear in mind whom they are acting on behalf of for human kind does not
belong to them but to God they are but the servants, the pastors of the flock of humanity
within the district that God has seen fit to place them. The more any government moves away
from godliness the darker and more unruly they become, which then spreads and pervades
society as a plague, as they enact the wickedness of their own hearts rather than to do justly
and righteously, to do justice and judgement that uplifts a people and a nation (Prov.14.34)
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” Also (Lev.26.14-24). It
is our bound duty, under God, to remind man of his obligations to his Maker and if we fail to
do just that then we are no sons of his, no matter what words of profession may proceed out
of our mouths. We do no favours to fallen men in being quiet and by aiding unruliness
because we do not stand against it. If we are the Lord’s people then we shall, by nature, stand
out against immorality and social ethics, as the Spirit within rises up against all ungodliness.
(3) To leave all men without excuse in the day of judgement as man is prone to excuse
himself and to say that he did not hear. See the man who shouts at the preacher, in the street,
because the preacher preaches the uncomfortable law of God and gospel of Christ. The
heckler does not understand that the devil has played the dirtiest of all tricks upon him for the
man being stirred up by the devil to oppose God and his word, actually hears the word and is
left without excuse and so the devil satisfies his lust for wickedness in leaving the man
without excuse in the day of judgement, and has had his turn in throwing abuse at a child of
God. All in a day’s work. They think that God does not see their hearts, (Lke5.22) their
inner intentions. They will look upon God as being far away (Ezek.8.12) and one who will
excuse them in the day of judgement. Some will even take on forms of religion and say to
themselves that this will allow me to face my Maker and if all else fails I can simply claim I
am innocent, I was duped, misled, as the soul that trusts in the Mass and priests of Rome and
Anglicanism and evangelicalism, will say to themselves whilst there are those whose heart
and mind is forever set upon hardship, that the more they feel hard done-by the greater their
chances of getting to heaven as God will pity them and ultimately grant them the heaven that
they have imagined in the deceitfulness of their own hearts. Their heaven does not exist and
would prove hell to them as it is the opposite to all they are. Man creates many false gods in
his heart, to be his salvation, but never will he entertain the one true living God. Man thinks
he can hood wink God for he has such low thoughts of him with whom he has to do. At some
stage all men hear the word of the Lord, (Jhn.15.22) and, in fact, cannot get away from it as it
is written on the tables of their hearts, which they attempt to erase by taking themselves to
task and fighting those who would remind them of it. (Ps.14.1)

The children of God are Resurrected

Before we can respond to hear the effectual calling and embrace the irresistible grace of God
we must first be living souls in order to respond, and seeing that by the disobedience of our
father and federal head, Adam, that spiritual and physical death entered the world, we are all
spiritually dead and eventually we shall all physically die (we ourselves shall know nothing
of death, but shall pass from one existence to another in the twinkling of an eye; only the
body dies) It is impossible, therefore, for any soul to respond to God, unless they become
alive to the things of God. This work is the work of the Holy Ghost in resurrecting us from
the dead (Eph.2.1) “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” This
is the first resurrection, the second being that of our bodies. As we belong to Israel and are the
true children of God it is prophesied that we should arise and return to our city from the grave
of spiritual death, (Ezek.37.12-14) that we are the only ones involved in resurrection to
newness of life, and none other but the seed of God. On our journey through this world it
never occurs to us that we are spiritually dead, or, in fact, that we are the children of God,
cast off by God because of our sin; we thought that we were very much alive and that the
dead feeling that we had (Rev.21.4) was just that and that death was yet to come and befell
everyone. the body. As soon as God makes us to realise our spiritual condition and brings us
through the gates of the new Jerusalem by the new birth, by being resurrected from the dead
we find new brothers and sister that we never knew before, brothers and sisters who are not
biological but spiritual (Lke.8.21) in nature and that we belong to a family that we have never
seen before (1 John.3.14) “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we
love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” This is the first
resurrection, the resurrection of the soul. (Rev.20.6) The Jews do not believe in this
resurrection as they only accept the resurrection of the body. “Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Because we have
part in the first resurrection we are blessed, holy, justified and sanctified in God. (Ezek.39.27)
We stand as righteous in his sight as complete and whole. The day of grace is but a thousand
years. If we have not attained to the first resurrection then we are above all men most
miserable as we are still dead in trespasses and sins and without hope in the world, ungodly
and unholy, rather than blessed and holy. Some will dispute the first resurrection and make it
physical, but let every man be a liar and God and his Spirit be true, as we know that we have
passed from death unto life. (John.5.24) “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” We come back to our first point of call in
that when our Saviour rose from the dead we, collectively, rose with him as we have an
indissoluble union with him, which shall be seen in time, the time of our conversion. It is not
possible for the world to understand being resurrected from the dead, they can only witness
its effects.

There is a second resurrection spoken of in scripture that pertains to the body that we now
carry about with us, this body of death that pains us and troubles us and is a burden to us and
so much so that we desire not to be a part of this wicked thing, and the old man within it who
is a traitor and a viper in our very bosom, who keeps wanting to stray into all sorts of things
that are not right, just and holy. (Rom.7.19,20) Who shall save us from this wretch?
(Rom.7.24,25) “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the
law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” It is a blessed thing to know that this body of
corruption shall not enter heaven, but the same body shall be transformed, shall be changed
from imperfection to perfection, from mortality to immortality. (1.Cor.15.53) “For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Not all shall
die and be placed in the earth, but we shall all be changed, (v.51) as when Christ returns those
who are alive he shall take with him, at the end of the world. Some maybe of the opinion that
once dead always dead, but the order of things puts this to flight. (1 Thess.4.15-17) “For we
say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of
the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead
in Christ shall rise first: then we that remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” It should go
without saying that those that have gone before are in heaven, that it is their attendant earthly
bodies spoken of here which is part and parcel of who they are and hence it is said they shall
rise. Let us not be so stupid as to think spirits inhabit graves. It is also noted that those who
rise, do not stand upon the earth to greet their fellow brethren, that they are all taken home. If
we were to sit upon thrones, at the coming of our Lord, as some foolishly teach, then would it
not have been a truer picture for the redeemed to have met upon earth instead of rising to
meet their fellow brethren. We do not hear of them coming back to earth as the followers of
the deist and freemason William Miller would have us to believe, who teach that no redeemed
soul is a live soul, that they are still dead in trespasses and sins as the first resurrection has not
yet taken place. Let God be true and the devil remain a liar, for that is what God requires.
(Rev.22.11)

The devil and his princes and legions understand that all men shall one day be called forth to
meet their Maker and has caused the sons of men to attack human kind in various ways and to
provide various excuses, in regard to the dead. He will have them reduced to ashes to be
burnt and put into urns, to be scattered into the sea and upon land and into space, and if he
can he will have the saints of God to be burnt, out of hatred and spite and have their bodies
destroyed. The world may destroy the body, believing that is that, but the God who first made
this house of clay will bring it before him in the day of judgement. Infants that die, die in the
Lord and shall be blessed in growing to their full stature in the world that is to come, the
heavenly paradise, in which we shall rejoice as the redeemed of the Lord. No true elect soul
will ever desire to return to this world and shall be glad not to have to return to this earth
from whence they came, and which they hate with righteous hatred even the very thought that
they shall have to come back and rule and fight all over again after some imaginary period of
time. Some professors of religion will attempt to persuade us of our return and reign upon
earth but they cannot change the Spirit within us; all such do not know us and who we are as
they have not the Spirit of God living within them, but we know who they are and from
whence they come and will have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness.
(Eph.5.10,11)

The Children of God are Justified

We are not only united to Christ by electing grace and vicarious sacrifice (Christ having taken
our place upon the cross and suffered that we should not have to suffer, he being the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world) and Effectually called to repentance, but are
equally called to be freely justified before God, and so great a justification that we cannot
lose our standing before him. It is not an uncertain thing that we may obtain one day and lose
the next, by some act of disobedience, as this would make God fickle. There is no tree of
knowledge of good and evil in our paradise, only Christ, the tree of righteousness. (Rev.22.2)
Works are excluded from grace and from the heavenly paradise that we inhabit, we cannot
put our trust in Christ as that would be a work. No! All that we are and all that we should be
is a work of grace and mercy from one who is gracious. We are for ever learning and making
mistakes in this life and are far from perfect in our character and outward walk and are
confusion to ourselves and a bewilderment at the best of times which causes us to question as
how it is that we could possibly be saved. One bad thought, one bad word, one bad deed or
action is enough to have us thrown back into the kingdom of darkness, and back under the
government of him who kept us captive in his lands. (Ezek.39.23,27) From this place we
would be brought down into hell, hereafter, having the first-fruits of it within our natural state
here upon earth. Our justification is sure. (Rom.5.9) “Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” We shall be saved; there is an
anchor for the soul amidst the tempestuous seas of life that gives us an assurance amidst the
greatest of the tempests that Jesus is ours, that there is within us a rock of assurance that all
shall be well in the end though it may not seem so at the time. When all comes crashing down
around us we still remain, battered and bruised and yet we are still anchored in the Lord.

Elsewhere the picture is that of having been washed in the blood of the Lamb, which also
tells of our justification and eternal salvation, having previously stood before the broken law
in fear and in trembling. (Rev.7.13,14) “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,
What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto
him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”.
This cleansing was promised of old. (Ezek.37.23) As previously mentioned, and is worth
mentioning again, many take these texts out of context and read into them things that are not
there and jump from the spiritual to the physical, all in one leap. Washing of our garments is
clearly not a physical thing, as this would rather pollute than cleanse, and before we can be
washed and justified by the blood of the Lamb we must go through heart felt conviction.
John is given to see the true way of salvation, that conviction and justification sit together,
that you cannot have one without the other, that it is wrong to put a knife to scripture and cut
out this part and that in order to build up a picture that suits one’s teaching. This is a
sacrilegious practice that the children of God would fear to do for there is something within
them that makes them to fear doing such things, the Spirit of God which makes for reverence.

Because we are justified we have peace with God, we are no longer enemies and strangers in
a foreign land. The weapons of our warfare are turned into implements of cultivation (Isa.2.4.
“And he shall judge amongst the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into prunninghooks: nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”) in the garden that we tend,
which is that of our heart, which we take great care of, for the Lord, that he may take pride of
place in it and pleasure in it. (Prov.4.23) “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are
the issues of life.” By the blood of Christ peace has been declared between both parties.
(Eph.2.13) “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ.” We stand before God in a new state and without original sin, righteous in his
sight, spotless and blameless. How can it be that we should have an interest in the Saviour’s
blood? If we have been rebuked and judged as being unfit to stand before God then we are
part of a small but equally large band from every nation under the sun who are bound by one
Spirit and one Saviour. Each nation in the world has within it a nation of believers and across
the world all these nations shall have all things in common and shall be at peace with one
another in contrast to the nations of this world who are forever warring with each another.
The first Christians were a nation within a nation (1 Pet.2.9) which continues to this very day,
no longer being separated by sin (Ezek.37.22) but all come together under the rule of Christ
the king. (v.24)

Our justification or righteousness is said to be imputed to us even as it was imputed to our

father Abraham. (Rom.4.11) “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the
righteousness of faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all
them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed to
them also.” Righteousness is imputed to us by vicarious substitution, by the work of the
Cross, and is applied to us by faith (Rom.4.5) “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” It is applied by faith
rather than any other grace so as to exclude all that is of self, as faith is the gift of God and
does not and cannot come from a corpse, a dead state of unregeneracy. (Eph.2.8) “For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works
lest any man should boast.” Man cannot make any move toward his Maker until the Spirit of
God moves him. (Eph.2.1) “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and
sins.” If faith is simply a mental acceptance of all that is to be believed, then it would not
only be a work of man, and not a work of God, but all the princes and legions in hell, even
the devil and his children would be saved. (Jms.2.19) “Thou believest that there is one God;
thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Even in the Apostle’s day
“Commitment to Christ” was practised and condemned as a man cannot pluck himself out of
the hands of the devil and place himself into the hands of God for he has not the power within
himself to perform a divine act. If man could save himself then he would be divine, equal
with God and his own saviour. Those who claim that by putting their faith in Christ saves
their souls must justify this, must account for what they are saying as man is not God and
cannot place himself in the place of Christ to be his own saviour.
The children of God are Sanctified

Sanctification always accompanies Justification and is a one off, never to be repeated Act of
God, a work of the Cross. (1Cor.6.11) “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but
ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our
God”. This is the fulfilment of that promise. (Isa.29.23) “But when he seeth his children, the
work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy
One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.” Abraham was promised a holy people who
would fear the Lord, a people that would no longer err in spirit or murmur all day long, that
would do those things that are well pleasing in his sight, that they would be holy changed for
the better. Their eyes shall be opened and their ears also, (v.18) and for this and the fact that
the power of the devil is broken in their lives, they shall rejoice in the Lord. (v19,20) They
shall walk in judgement and follow the statutes of the Lord. (Ezek.37.24) “And David my
servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in
my judgements, and observe my statutes, and do them.” They shall be of those who shall, by
meekness and lowliness of spirit inherit the world and shall increase their joy in the Lord, and
those who are poor in spirit shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. (Isa.29.19) They shall not
only inherit all things but they shall no longer err in spirit and continue to walk a crooked
path but by the Spirit of the Lord they shall come to understanding, (v.24) no more to abide
under darkness for they shall see the light, not only of the Gospel but he that is the light of the
world when they shall become the redeemed of the Lord. All things that have been shall pass
away as a dream in the night and the former days shall pass away and be no more. The path
that they once trod they shall tread no more; the crooked shall become straight and shall glory
in the Lord, and enter his house that was, by the darkness of sin, hidden from their view.

The work of sanctification is so closely interconnected with Justification that you cannot have
one without the other. When we are justified we are sanctified and all that is left to us is to
live unto God, to seek to please him in our daily lives. The only thing that is different
between these two gifts is that Justification is Imputed righteousness and Sanctification is
Infused righteousness, one accounts us as being holy the other makes us holy. The Roman
Catholic Church hates this doctrine and calls it a fiction and unlike Christians they will not lie
down with the Lamb but take up arms against him. They claim that none can be truly
sanctified before God, that when a person is born again they are not sanctified, that
sanctification is not infused to every believer. How wrong they are and show themselves not
to have changed, but continue on in their old ways, continuing to sacrifice their christ upon
their altars, with so much superstition and nonsense from grown men who should know
better, but, then, God hath sent them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,
(2.Thess.2.11) that they might perish for their not loving the truth. Why do such play around
with their souls? Because they will not submit to The Truth they are justly punished and are
judged by their own hands that first turn away from the light into darkness, and how great is
that darkness.

Although we are sanctified, holy in the sight of God, we must nevertheless seek to be holy in
our lives by applying ourselves to those things that make for holiness of life, having already
obtained sanctification by the offering up of Christ upon the Cross, we must daily seek to be
holy before God and man, we must abstain from all that is unholy, that would turn us away
from God, that would form a breach in our relationship between ourselves and The Almighty.
We should begin to learn, and learn it is, to keep our vessels unspotted from this world.
(1.Thess.4.4) “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification
and honour.” It is not said “to sanctification” but “in sanctification”, to keep what has already
been given. It is God that has called us to live outwardly what we are inwardly, that is, holy.
(1 Thess.4.7) “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” We should
attempt to cultivate, within our lives, meekness of spirit, to live circumspectly in fear and
trembling, along with joy in our hearts, knowing that our Lord reigneth and that he not only
continues to provide for the whole of humanity, within the kingdom of his providence, but
also continues to execute his righteous judgements throughout that kingdom (Isa.29.6) which
we commonly term, the world, for by such things we may yet be hid when his judgements
come more fiercely than at other times (Joel.2.3). When nations and peoples are plundered
and eyes are full of sorry and heartache, because the husbandman has come to take stock of
what belongs to him and to see what has been done in his absence, then will they witness his
peculiar judgements as he begins to reward each according to their works. (1.Pet.2.12) These
are special days, days of visitation, (Hos.9.7) days above all other days. Though it is said that
the Lord brings forth his judgements every day, these are his peculiar days. It is nonsense
and error that directs our eyes to forth-coming judgements and to dismiss temporal
punishments and rewards. Man will never accept that he is punished on a daily basis, or
rewarded on a daily basis by the means of common judgement, neither will nations accept the
same as they go about their business without any thought of the Almighty, that he watches
what they do and considers what they think, even if they do not. If any man do that which is
good he shall have his reward from God, as God is no man’s debtor. When man is busy doing
unrighteousness judgement awaits him, and if he be a Christian he shall be handed over to the
tormentors, (1.Cor.5.5)

Some would have it that if we are to live holy lives we should secrete ourselves away, like
monks and hermits from the world in which we live, within the kingdom of providence.
Some will go as far as to teach that we should have nothing to do with our relations or
families, if they are without Christ, that if they turn up at our houses we should shut the door
in their faces, and if they give us presents we should throw them back at them. If these
teachers are correct then we must needs go out of this world to avoid the ungodly. To shun
and abuse those that have done us no wrong is a breach of the second commandment, indeed,
the whole law of God (Matt.22.40) and is wholly inhuman, and makes holy religion to stink
in the sight of the world. What height of wickedness is man given too when he will
purposely separate himself from those who have done him no harm; some will even be as
cruel and unkind as to disown their own parents that have done them no wrong, that have fed
and clothed them and looked after their every need. To repay and reward such love and
devotion in such a way is beyond that of humanity and is remit of natural affection and is
contrary to their standing, after all they claim that God has had mercy upon them and yet do
not extend the same to those of their own household. If those whom we reject are avowed
Satanists, murderers, thieves, abusers and the like then that would be understandable, and we
may pray and ask the Lord that such would either be converted or subdued or driven out of
this world at the earliest opportunity. Man is prone to fall into extremes when he follows the
natural course of his own corrupt mind, in some cases not merely of man’s own making but
that of the devil’s. (Jude.19)

Our minds must be transformed by the word of God. (Jhn.17.17) “Sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth.” Our minds, our thoughts must be altered through the word of God,
must entertain holy thoughts, even as the world entertains ungodly thoughts, the very world
we came out of and still have somewhat the stain of, and hence we are to transform our
thoughts, which will guide our feet, so that we conform less and less to the world and its
ways, for the ways of the world are not God’s ways. (Isa.55.8) “For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” We should attend to everything
that is holy, in a humble yet with a firm stance, for this is the mind of God. Does God love
the truth? Then tell the truth because this is the mind of God. (Rev.8.21) Does God hate bear-
faced liars? So should we, for this is the mind of God (Acts.3.10). Does God hate thieves and
vagabonds? So should we, for this is the mind of God. (1.Cor.6.10) Does God hate all rapists
and murderers, and desire their death? So should we, for this is the mind of God.
(Exod.22.12) God hates all error, false dealing and falsehood and wrongs of every
description, so should we, for this is having the mind of God, does God show mercy to the
innocent? So should we. (Mrk.1.41) There is no mystery, as some would make out, in
attaining to the mind of God though some would say it is merely to preach Jesus. How little
do they know of divine things.

The mind of God is pure and holy and to conform to this, that this mind should be in us is to
seek righteousness (Ps.89.14) and to love mercy. It is reflected in condemning and avoiding
all that God hates and supporting and upholding every thing that God loves, in the Spirit that
he has given to us to guide us in the way, to love rectitude above all things. If we truly are
the children of God then hatred of sin and wickedness will be instinctive, will be part of the
fabric of our being and part of our nature to be angry with it and those who blatantly stand
upon the house tops performing it. Those who claim to be holier than most and do not find
themselves at odds and disagreement with the ungodly ways of both themselves and of man,
are liars and hypocrites, and have not the Spirit of God but go about not only deceiving
themselves but others, leading the gullible into by-path meadows and down strange avenues,
into strange places, to ultimately lead them to lie down and feed in the fields of hypocrisy and
carnality. The more our thoughts are transformed the closer our walk with the Lord will be.
Worldly thoughts and carnal nature will always attempt to get the upper hand in the personal
warfare we wage with ourselves. (Rom.7.15) “For that which I do I allow not: for what I
would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” And why all this fighting? (V.17,18) “Now
then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, my
flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is
good I find not.” We should always fight the good fight and try not to succumb to our
weaknesses, neither should we ever seek after an unholy union (2 Cor.6.14-16) as we are to
conform to a life of sanctification in which we should seek to examine all things. (1
Thess.5.21) “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” We should always cleave to that
which is good and hate that which is evil. The best company is godly company and the best
of that is to be kept with the best of men of those who dearly love the Lord and not those who
just profess to love God. (Rom.12.29) “Let love be with out dissimulation. Abhor that which
is evil; cleave to that which is good.” We should not listen to ungodly and profane things, and
should not walk the way of the wicked, neither engage ourselves in ungodly talk or follow the
ungodly dictates of the them. (Ps.1-6) Bad company corrupts good manners and invades the
mind leading to wrong thoughts and error in speech. (Jhn.12.4,5; Matt.26.8,9) It took but one
sinner to influence the minds of the disciples, to adopt his way of thinking.

Due to the fact that in our flesh we are not perfect, the rod has to be applied upon occasions.
There is that within each and every one of us that which needs to be removed by scourging
and a very, very soar thing it is when we each go through this scourging, it even may bring us
to the point of distraction. (Heb.12.6) “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” This is where we part company with those that are
light and vain, those that sit alongside us, and come into the congregation of the righteous, for
they are light as air and as vain as vain can be. When we come through being purged and the
chastisements born, we become more solid, more reverent, sincere and circumspect and
endeared to the Lord whom we accept wheelds the rod against us. Such chastisement is for
our own good and we shall not be given, as some who profess to walk with us, to jumping up
and down waving our hands in the air in the presence of the Lord as one would turn on a tap,
but rather bowed before him in reverence and holy fear and love. Sometimes it is true that
the joy of the Lord comes and so overwhelms us that we do get to jumping up and down in
our houses, but this is not the turning on of the tap but an occasional thing that comes upon us
and even then it is accompanied with reverence and fear, a holy and deeper respect for the
Lord of all mercies that like Moses of all makes our faces to shine. At such times we are
equally given to smile and feel that our Lord is smiling back at us. That is real and true joy in
the Lord and not like that of the hypocrite, who views himself in the mirror of vanity.

When we are resurrected to newness of life, born again, our minds also under go a
transformation. It is not just our standing before God that is effected and altered but our very
person, the person who we really are within this body of clay and death that we carry around
with us. It is wrong to declare that once the body is dead the person is dead, as the person is
more than the body. By the blood of Christ our consciences are purged from dead works and
continue to be cleansed. (Heb.9.14) “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead
works to serve the living God!” Being purged there is no desire and longing, no interest, no
thought of carrying on as before. Equally, at the very point of our conversion from the old
world into the new world we look upon things very differently, in a new light. Having
escaped the kingdom of darkness and the chains that once bound us, we begin to look upon
the world with new eyes, as though we were but children seeing it all for the first time. All
our senses are heightened, things appear very much different than they were; there is a
different hue to things. The heaven above us appears new and the earth beneath changed.
(Rev.21.1) “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth
were passed away; and there was no more sea.” All around us appears new and fresh. (2
Cor.5.17) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.” We feel as though we have stepped from one
world into another, that we have been here before and yet not after this fashion. All we
remember is that one moment we were being terrified by the sounds of thunder and lightning
and thick black smoke and carrying a load that for sure would have seen us end up in hell and
that the world that we once trusted too has gone and a new world seen to take its place, and
such a world that it is paradise to our souls. We are brought into a new world and land that we
feel one with, having formerly sojourned in a strange land, that as the seed of God we did not
belong too. (Ezek.37.21)

Once we were blind but now we see, were dead and now alive. God wipes away all the tears
of a weeping conscience that may have been accompanied by outward expressions of the
same. Our inner turmoil and fears removed. (Rev.21.4) “And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” A faith that never wept is a
faith that has never lived and a faith that has never lived can never weep when the Lord
smiles. By conviction we return and are reconciled to God, for we have always been his
children though we did not know it until conversion. (Ezek.39.26-29) Now, here we have all
the promises to all that should be called and the mark of those that are true believers in
Christ. Although our bodies may die we shall never die, death has no hold upon us and the
feeling of death that we once carried around with us shall not be felt any more, there “shall be
no more death” felt within us. (v.4) Once we were dead in trespasses and sins, but now alive
unto God. It should never be forgotten that at the passing of this world and at the passing of
ourselves at the time of our physical death, we shall come to the fullness of that which we
now believe and see. When this world has ended, for those upon it, ours shall remain, our
world shall remain and then shall we experience the fulness of that which we see with the
eyes of our understanding. This is what we look for and yearn after. (2 Pet.3.12,13) The
kingdoms of this world come and go but ours still remains as it comes down from heaven and
is built by the Divine hand of God, and rests in the world of spirits that cannot be touched and
understood by carnal man, only those that are in Christ Jesus can see and touch it.

It is a strange thing that God should wipe away our tears of penitence and pain in light of the
fact that we have said and done so much against him and the hard thoughts we had of him
whilst we sojourned in the land of Egypt, having been estranged from our God through
original sin. There he sought us and there he bought us, being slaves to Satan and sin. He did
not choose us because of we were something. (Deut.7.6; 1.Cor.1.27) He took us and
separated us from amongst the rest of the slaves to make us free men and brought us to a new
land and a new country, to a new heaven and a new earth in which there is no more sea, no
more sea of despair and despondency of ever being made free from the bonds and chains that
did bind us in the service of The Wicked One. God is no longer angry with us, (Ezek.39.25)
as he is with the unbeliever. (Ps.7.11) “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the
wicked every day.” We are no longer at war with our Maker and our God. All the instruments
of our warfare have been transformed to the service of our Lord instead of being used against
him and our fellow man. We now lay claim to God being our Lord and our Master
(Ezek.39.28) and accept that the atonement is all of his doing. (2 Cor.5.18) “And all things
are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation.” What is past is passed. The only warfare we are now presently
engaged in is that against the foolishness of self and that of the world of fallen spirits within
the kingdom of the devil. We fight against many foes that war against us, who would detract
and deter us from a life of rectitude, from a holy life before an unholy world, a fallen world
that rejoices when we fall and are enticed away by falsehood. (Matt.16.6) Having started off
well we hope to continue to walk well to the very end, to run the race that is before us and to
quit ourselves in all things, to approve ourselves to God in all things. Those who stringently
deny our world, deny us our God. (Rev.21.3)

We start out upon life as new vessels that continuously require filling by the Spirit of God and
transformed by his word and the more we learn in the Spirit of Truth the closer we draw
nearer to our God. Truth without the Spirit is a dead thing and can only instruct the mind and
not lift up the heart and spirit. As new-comers to this world we seek after the things that
appertain to it, rather than appertain to the past. Our spirits are stirred and we set our feet and
our faces toward Jerusalem and seek to learn from our journey in this green and pleasant
land, and as it is a world wherein dwelleth righteousness we instinctively go after those very
things that we know shall please the Lord of this place, even struggling against the flesh to
please him. We find in this promised land that we should learn to be holy and just before God
and man, that we should encourage ourselves and one another to grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the truth and of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to continually be transformed
towards holiness of life and piety and reverence of spirit and disposition. We are moved also
to seek and to search out all those instruments that make for growth in grace and in the truth.
Fellowship with godly individuals and assembling in godly meeting houses and their stated
ordinances; the study of all that is holy, just and true. (Phil.4.8) “Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any
praise, think on these things.” The Spirit that moves us through the fertile land is that which
we have not gained from the world or self but of God, and we should not sleep even as others
do that do not know the true joy of the Lord.

Trials and tribulations may be used as instruments of our sanctification, that is, to help and
assist us to walk more holy before God and the world. Depending how we treat such trials
and tribulations, we may yet be blessed by them, e.g., if we understand them to be for our
own good and not just something that has occurred, as nothing occurs without a reason, and
that reason lies with God. Our trials and tribulations may be fierce and almost unbearable at
times, but through them we sit quiet in the presence of our God, as under his wings
(Isa.10.31) and in a spirit of meekness and lowliness we resign ourselves to him and wait for
the outcome, that the day once more shall shine. (Psl.57.1) We sit quietly knowing that we
shall not perish. (1 Pet.1.7) “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold
that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ.” What we build with must be tried by trials and tribulations, in
this life (1.Cor.3.15) so that we may know as to what we have built with, though some do not
reap the benefit as they do not understand what the trials and tribulations are all about. If we
have built upon the rock of our faith some false doctrine and insubstantial things that do not
draw the soul to God, then we shall suffer loss and have to begin again, and we shall feel this
inner loss. If, however, we have studied the truth and have a right grasp of it and have
understood and sanctified former trials to ourselves, we shall have gold, silver, precious
stones to rely upon, more substantial things, than the world can offer, that are precious to us
and always should be, like the foundations of The Faith. (Rev.21.19) When trials and
tribulations come we should accept them and accept from whence they come and who brings
them upon us, and hold fast to The Faith. The more we hold fast, submitting to the truth, and
the author of all truth, the more we grow in grace and knowledge of God and become more
capable of understanding and carrying the weightier matters of scripture and accepting the
providential workings of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Rev.10.10) Which is hard to swallow at first
setting out. It is then that we begin to walk more straightly the life of the Spirit and we shall
not be judged of anyone that is carnal. (1.Cor.2.15) Those who teach an atheistic view that the
trials of the righteous come from none but the world, and do not have their origin in the Lord,
are those that have wood, hay and stubble for beliefs, if any belief at all. There are many
false teachers amongst us, many false brethren that do not eye the Lord in all things, if in
anything, but what their mind’s fashion, (2.Pet.2.1) having not The Faith. Fiery trials should
make the righteous more fervent and holy.

Daily we should pray not to be led into temptation and pray for grace to resist falling into it.
(Heb.4.16) Although temptation is a bad thing it maybe used as a means to make us more
Godly and steadfast as we resolve within ourselves not to go along the pathway of
temptation. It tries our faith and our resolve, from time to time. (Jms.1.2-4) “My brethren,
count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptation, knowing this, that the trying of your faith
worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye maybe perfect and entire,
wanting nothing.” Job had his faith tried and came out the other side more of a victor than
when he entered. And we note that the Lord used Satan as his servant to test Job. The Devil
can be employed, and is employed, when the Lord wishes him to be, to our good and to his
glory. By trials and tribulations we see just how strong we are and a few more of our faults
which we should then go about correcting. It is far too easy to trundle along and believe we
are sound of heart, as our flesh will always trick us into believing this to be so. By temptation
we come to know just who we really are. Those who claim to be Fully Sanctified are making
a true statement of faith, as we are all fully sanctified in our standing before the Lord, at the
point of our salvation. What these persons do not state is that our lives need to be sanctified
on a daily basis. All our best efforts are unacceptable of ourselves, they are as filthy rags, it is
Christ that makes them and us acceptable. (1 Pet.2.5) “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a
spiritual house, and holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by
Jesus Christ.”

Sometimes the elect will stray over the fence and into sinful ways and find themselves in a
condition that they were formally not in, that the presence of the Lord is no longer real and
that an offence has taken place and that their hearts and lives are eating away at them like
locusts. (Rev.9.3) There eventually comes rescue, but at a great price as their error and
grevous ways are punished, in some cases most severly. (Jude.23) “And others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” Having been
saved, as though by fire, the Lord can return the years that the locusts have eaten, (Jol.2.25) if
they are not given to be dispatched home-ward. Many a child of God has been punished for
their sins. (Ruth.1.20) “Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt bitterly
with me.” Like the Pilgrims we are we are not averse to by path meadows and vanity fair is
held all year round to entice us out of the way of godliness and back into the ways of the
world. When God enters into judgement with his people it is for their best and should never
be denied and the soul pull away from it, but like Naomi and David submit to the hand of the
Lord, as in all things.

There are those, amongst us that have such brazen faces that they would avow that the Lord
only comes to bless his people and is never at odds with them, and that it is a sin to consider
otherwise. These followers of Comti need to be born again. Many will wrongly teach that
there is judgement to come for the children of God, that they shall stand with the unrighteous
and be judged alongside them and be punished for all the wrongs that they have done and
receive rewards for the things that they have done. This is what comes of formal religion, the
teaching of the formalist that has nothing to do with the truth and the saving work of Christ,
but would cast aspersions upon Christ and his work, that Christ did not bare all the sins of the
children of Israel, that he lied when he said his work was complete. (Jhn.17.4) Accordingly,
they would have us believe that our first parents went unpunished and that both King David
and King Solomon went unpunished and that of numerous other holy men of God, throughout
scripture, went unpunished, for God does not exact payment twice, therefore they have yet to
be punished. This is where their doctrine leads. The children of God will never enter the
judgement hall of God Almighty. The only persons to be found there are those outside of
Christ that continue to heap up punishment to the day of judgement and though they may be
punished here that punishment is never ending as it is only a precursor to that which is to
come, like a tree that grows so do their sins and punishments till they reach to heaven and the
full sense of the punishment against sin is felt. We must never forget that when we are
punished it is as sons and not as strangers to God, that our punishment comes from a gracious
hand and that amidst it all we shall never be brought into eternal condemnation or have to
answer for our ways, hereafter, for there is “now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom.8.1) There is now no
more curse (Rev.22.3) to those that are in Christ Jesus, that the curse and condemnation that
once prevailed prevails no more. Let all those who continue to believe in rewards and
punishments for the righteous contemplate the lives of the aforementioned. Is it not more
desirable to walk in truth and holiness than to walk the way of the flesh? The reward of
walking in rectitude far out weighs that of sinfulness, of pleasing the flesh to be brought into
the courts of the Lord to answer, as David and Solomon, etc., had to do. What is the reward
we desire? Is it the smiles of a benevolent God or that of an angry Father? Choose yea this
day whom you would prefer to serve.

There are those around us that would try and draw us into a false sense of security, that would
tell us that all things are right when they are wrong, that when we are going through trying
times, either because we have sinned or just going through trials, which we sometimes cannot
distinguish between and make our head to spin, that we should not be so steadfast and
seemingly down cast but should jump up and down and should embrace Auguste Comte and
his teaching of philosophical positivism, that positivism should be the way, the truth and the
life of a believer, that it is the answer to their situation, that to think positively is the answer
to their dilemma and not to think positively is a sin before God, and so they take that which is
profane and mix it with that which is holy and pass the whole thing of as being of Christ and
so they steer us away from the Lord and to acknowledging who it is with whom we have to
do and whose hand we have fallen under. These teachers are atheists that turn us to man and
away from the Divine. The only positive position when such trials and tribulations occur is to
bow the heart and mind and acknowledge the Lord God Almighty in all things, that we do not
know what maybe going on but the Lord is on the throne and seek to be placid in accepting
God is who he is, and that mercy might still the temper and calm the tempest. Positivism also
teaches that not only does the Lord Jesus Christ not punish anyone but that he is always
blessing and that when two or three are gathered together in his name he is there in the midst
to bless them. So, two fornicators join together and are therefore blessed of God. Here is
what the Lord pronounces upon such fools and their teaching. (Rev.2.1,4,16,20. 3.2,16)

The children of God will Bare Fruit

All they that are called and are convicted, justified and sanctified will bare fruit, fruit of the
Spirit and will evidence that a work of grace has been performed in their hearts and lives,
even as a tree will display its fruit so that we maybe able to judge what type of tree it is.
Equally so with heresy. We know from whence it comes because we know the fruit and name
of the tree it comes from, even as it branches out throughout the world under different guises,
so many of its branches growing over the wall of Christian profession, entering into the
garden of the Lord. Now, the outward declaration or manifestation of the inward work of the
Spirit and application of Christ’s meritorious work will be shown by bearing fruit in our lives,
in various quantities. (Mrk.4.20) “And these are they which are sown on good ground; such
as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty, and some
and hundred.” The good ground must never be taken as being prepared of man as this makes
God out to be a liar (Rom.3.11). “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh
after God.” He that sits upon the throne of the universe makes the heart new. Those whom
God has not touched, through his Spirit, will never receive the word to the salvation of their
souls. They may receive the word of man conveying the seed of the truth, but the truth has no
place in them to germinate. It matters not if they make a mental acceptance of truth, they are
still dead in trespasses and sins and still live with the spirit of the world within them. Where
there is no fruit in the lives of those who profess revealed religion, they are but dry bones,
dead branches, tares in the wheat field of the Lord and only fit for the furnace. (Matt.13.30)
This bearing fruit is most essential for it justifies a soul, as the Apostle James teaches,
(Jms.2.21) that is, Declarative Justification and not Legal or Forensic Justification, that works
justify a person claiming to be a Christian, that a work of grace has been performed within
the soul, that Declarative Justification is an open declaration of an inward work. When a man
professes Christ they must justify their owning that name by what they do, by that which
flows from their hearts for it is an easy thing to profess Christ but another thing entirely to be
owned of Christ, for even the devils own Christ (Jms.2.19) and tremble before him for he is
their ultimate ruler and they must do what he bids them to do. If what some may say and do
is found to be erroneous then their faith is in vain for it is their faith and not The Faith that
they own as they do not give an open declaration of righteous but of unrighteousness.

It cannot be over-emphasised that our union with the second Adam will bring forth fruit as we
derive all things from our head, from Christ’s glorified humanity and working of the Spirit.
Equally the natural man will bring forth fruit according to his union with the first Adam, as
his federal head, and bring forth fruit according to his kind and spirit after his kind.
(Rom.1.30-32) There can be no union with Christ for any soul if there is no good fruit
evident. (Jms.2.20) “ But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” We
show what we are by what we do. If we are not inwardly moved, as a natural thing, to do
good, instead of bad, then we are not Christ’s children. We witness and are disturbed by so
many that claim to be Christians, that profess Christ as their saviour. In this we do not take
account of those who are openly vicious toward the truth, who with their mitres sit in high
places pontificating over what should be the truth and where it can be found, but of those who
make such a good profession that it is not at first evident that they are not what they profess
to be, being foolish virgins walking alongside the wise virgins in The Faith. It is only when
they open their mouths that they make an open confession that their hearts are not right with
the Lord, even in the strictest of authodoxy and conformity to the fundamentals of The Faith,
many go astray, confirming one thing and then saying another. These are they that climb up
another way and over the wall of Revealed Religion because they cannot get in to the
profession of it the right way as the door is both barred and bolted, they being refused access
for whom they are. (Gen.3.15) Not many come from out of formalism to embrace
Christianity. Scarcely are any saved.

It is self-evident that we know who we are and what we are by how we conduct ourselves in
the midst of a wicked world, that we seek after righteousness and every good thing and
become offended when it comes to being enticed into doing that which is wrong, and with
detestation will protest at the fact, that it is not right before the Lord. Unlike the world that
displays its wares of ungodly thoughts. (Rom.1.29,30)“Being filled with all unrighteousness,
fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents.” The believer will show himself to be of a rather different
disposition and Spirit. (Gal.5.22,23) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
We must always look to exercise the fruit of the Spirit as by doing so we not only please the
Lord but accrue benefit to ourselves and testify to ourselves and others that we are of God.
Both parties within this union receive benefit. We should never listen to any that are not
zealous for the Lord, that would feign a smile and inform us, ever so meekly, not to be too
keen, “Soften your outlook, language and walk,” etc. Many working for the opposition are
ready and willing to turn us out of the way, to follow them and do their bidding rather than
follow the Lord. God will never be any man’s debtor, and if we love the Lord we will fight
for him against all ungodliness, because we love him. We will not hesitate to wheeld the
sword of truth for lies are hateful to us and the more subtle are our enemies and their lies the
more we turn away from them and their ways.

The children of God are Adopted

As unregenerates we wandered through the wilderness of this world, not finding a resting
place for our souls, and were aware that there was something strangely different about our
predicament even though alienated in our minds toward God. (Col.1.21) “And you that were
sometimes alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he
reconciled.” We were once avowed enemies of God and strangers from the commonwealth of
Israel, without God in the world. (Eph.2.12) “That at the time ye were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise having
no hope, and without God in the world.” It is by a regenerating act of the Holy Ghost that
first brings us to awaken from the sleep of death and according to an exact time fixed in the
councils of the eternal mind of God, that we are brought to be the children of God.
(Acts.2.47) Though elected to be children of the most High we do not all come together at
once but time a time is set for our conversion, this cannot be overstated. By the work of the
divine hand we are separated in spirit and by the Spirit from the mass of humanity, who
continue to exist in the kingdom of darkness, and are perpetually alienated from God, in fear
and in bondage. As adopted children we have a different Spirit than that of the world
(Rom.8.15) “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” All the children of the Lord
shall know this blessing, from generation to generation. (Ezek.37.25) “And they shall dwell
in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and
they shall dwell therein even they, and their children, and their children’s children, for
evermore: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.” We have an everlasting
Prince, the Prince of Peace.

Adoption may occur, as previously stated, in a moment in time as we are taken from out of
the world, yet it is part and parcel of our election that should have its issue in time. (Eph.1.5)
“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will.” What is planned in eternity is executed in time and we
cannot deny the fact, unless we have no eyes to see and no ears to hear (which some have not,
being carnally minded) that we are described throughout the Old Testament as the children of
Israel, metaphorically, that the physical Jew is but a shadow, a figure of the true Jew and all
the commandments, ordinances, statutes, etc., all have a secondary meaning, though some,
equally have a primary meaning that cannot pertain to the physical realm. Now that Christ
has come he it is that has given substance to all the Old Testament types and figures and fills
all, and completes all that which we find in the Old Testament. There is nothing within the
Old Testament that does not have its fulfilment in Christ.

Like all new-born babes we desire milk, even the milk of the Word. (1 Pet.2.2) “As new-born
babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” As new-born babes in
Christ we will always thirst after the Word of God as it is in our nature so to do, and after a
suitable period of time become capable of meat, that is, fundamental truths which are sweet
to the taste yet bitter in the belly, bitter sweet. (Rev.10.9) It has to be said that although babes
are fed upon the sincere Word, the world the flesh and a whole host of demons will attempt to
corrupt it in its interpretation and in its authenticity and hence there are some who enter the
gates of the external profession of the Church that are there for this purpose to destroy and to
pull down the edifices of truth. By corrupting the interpretation of the Word the enemies of
God hope to stunt the growth of the children of God, and in many cases succeed, and hence,
many do not fully enjoy the richness of truth or understand exactly what they have inherited
in the Lord. The devil is well aware that falsehood is best served up by those who claim to be
followers of Christ and so he sends his ministers into the field to side with the righteous and
go about sowing error and like leaven it spreads and permeates everything till the child of
God is so weakened that he cannot but accept error for truth and truth for error.

Only the innocent in spirit obtain heaven, not the haughty. (Matt.18.3) “And said, Verily I say
unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven.” The true things of God are hidden from those who have the spirit of this
world, to those who are self-possessed and wise in their own eyes. Those, however that are
nothing, in and of themselves, are the one’s who come to know and understand the truth, for
it is revealed unto the innocent at heart. (Matt.12.25) The great showmen of this world and all
their entourage and many in the meeting houses of the Lord are far removed from being
children at heart, and are more full of themselves and what others think of them than of what
God thinks. They have not been adopted by God but adopted by the world whose children
they are. (Matt.7.22,23) “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye
that work iniquity.” These are they that stand outside the door of grace seeking entrance,
(Matt.25.11) both Jew and Gentile, for now there is no difference between them, as
previously there had been. The irony of this is that they probably taught that Christ was love
and that Jesus loves everyone. What a turn up for the books and what a condition they found
themselves in for they had, no doubt, read the parable of the ten virgins and yet never saw
themselves as those that stood outside the door for they continued to cry to be allowed in.
They served and worshipped a god of their own making so that when they came to face the
true Christ he vowed he had never known them. It is interesting to note that God never adopts
adults, only children.

It has to be said that some children of adoption turn out to be more unusual than others, stand
out of the crowd, that some are so profoundly marked by their transition to be the sons of
God that they almost set the world ablaze, become fire-brands in the hands of the Lord and
this is not of their doing, though the work maybe theirs, so to speak, it is of the Lord’s will
that this should be and not of man. These children become men of courage and conviction
and sensibility above all others and are looked upon as those whom one can lean upon for
sound advise and for strength, pillars in the house of the Lord, so to speak. (Rev.3.12) “Him
that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out:
and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, and the
name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from
my God; and I will write upon him my new name.” This comes at a great cost to self which
some cannot pay the price of but fain would be looked upon as strong and knowledgeable in
the things of God, that can be leaned upon but turn out to be false. (Gal.2.9) When all about
are falling and fleeing in the midst of troubles there are those whom the Lord has made to be
pillars, those who will not bend and will refuse to bow the knee to those who oppose all that
speaks of their God. Such shall stand and proclaim with a solid determination, “Here I stand,
I can do no other.” There are some who seem to be pillars but are not. (Gal.29) These things
are equally so amongst the children of men who gain a reputation for wickedness and are
proud to be wicked, mighty men, men of renown, who come forth from unholy family
unions, (Gen.6.4) who climb the social ladder, upon the shoulder of others. Having climbed
the greasy pole they come to such heights that their wickedness maybe seen to be even
greater than those that have gone before. As the children of God delight in righteousness
these delight themselves in wickedness.

The children of God have New Names

Believers are termed “Sheep” for their meekness and docility, that have Christ for their
Shepherd. (Ezek.37.24) These are they that trust in the Lord and will not turn aside to serve
and to trust in any other, for the spirit within them does not follow false Christ’s, is not given,
as the world is given, to follow the foolishness of the heart. (Jhn.10.14,15) “I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so
know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.” The Shepherd laid down his life for
the sheep of his pasture. Those for whom Christ died are called sheep for they have always
been the sheep that should make up the flock of God, sheep that in times past have led each
and everyone of themselves astray from the green pastures of the great Shepherd that has to
come and rescue them out of their folly. (Isa.53.6) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Peter confirms the fact that we were looked upon as the Lord’s flock before conversion. (1
Pet.2.24,25) “Who in his own flesh bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as
sheep going astray; but now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” If the
redeemed are said to return (implies being away and attached to) then they have always been
the Lord’s special people for whom he came to save, to rescue them from amongst this
wicked world. This is confirmed in the Lord driving them away into the land of the wicked
when they first came into the world, (Ezek.39.23) and from that sphere he redeems them,
takes them to himself and plants their feet firmly in a different land, the promised land. His
promise has always been and shall always be that none of his children shall remain in that
land that sin did originally find them in. (v.28) The elect are not of the wicked, but are found
amongst them. The wicked are the seed and children of the Wicked One. (Matt.13.38) God’s
special people are his chosen ones, his chosen people.

The Psalmist was amongst one of the many that found themselves to be redeemed, in his day,
that found themselves to be the children of God. The Psalmist was part of the flock for whom
Christ came to save. (Ps.23.1) “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” And where did
the Lord make him to lie down and where did the Lord lead him? (v.2) “He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” David was as saved as we are
and enjoyed the things that we enjoy, until, that is, he transgressed and lost the benefit of
enjoying spiritual things. David was a lamb because Christ’s death was put to his account,
because God keeps his promises to save his sheep from their sins, and David would be saved
just as those who would be lost, throughout the old testament dispensation of the Church,
because Christ would save him whilst ignoring others, both Jew and Gentile. It is the same in
every generation.

None of whom Christ came to gather into his fold will ever be lost, shall ever be left in the
former land to which the Lord had driven them. (Mat.1.21) “And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins.” None of
whom Christ came to gather into the fold will ever be lost, they shall be Effectually called
and by his Irresistible Grace drawn to himself from out of every nation that they are to be
found in. They will enter in with all those that have so far been called. (Jhn.10.16) “And other
sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;
and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” A firm promise that “They shall hear my
voice,” not just any voice, not the voice of man saying “put your trust in Jesus,” but the voice
of Christ, which is so much more intimate and comes down from heaven. Christ will have all
his sheep gathered together. There were those within earthly Israel that were the elect sheep
of God. (Matt.10.6) “But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Even amongst the
wicked Jews, amongst the vipers and devils of the time there were sheep that belonged to the
Lord. He cast off the Jews, after the flesh and went in search of his own flock. Out of every
nation the sheep continue to be gathered to make up a nation within nation. The Messiah did
not die for those sheep in the Jewish nation, alone, as can be seen throughout the Old
Testament, but for all the sheep throughout all the nations of the world. Christ died for every
nation. (Jhn.11.51,52) “And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he
prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he
should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” (Ezek.37.22)
As the people of God form a nation within a nation, a society within a society, a world within
a world, so it is that all the nations that are saved are saved because Christ died for them and
such nations of believers walk, mutually, in the light of the heavenly Jerusalem, and kings are
not excluded (Rev.21.24) “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of
it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.” Only those that are
written in the Lamb’s book of life can enter into the heavenly Jerusalem. (v.27) King
Solomon and King David were and are part of that heavenly kingdom.

The wicked Jews would have it that the Messiah was their Messiah to the exclusion of all
others. To this very day they are staunch in this belief and the world sides with them and
approves of them. They still wrongly believe and teach that God loves them and is their God,
that they have always been his peculiar people, chosen and elect. These narrow minded fools,
who do not believe in the first resurrection, that of the soul, who do not believe in a triune
God, the conception of sin, the virgin birth, etc., could not even see by their own writings that
God is not the God of the Jews, only, but of the Gentiles also, that God is the God of the
whole world and that within that world he did have his chosen people, but it was not the
earthly Jew, but a chosen people scattered throughout every nation under the sun. They
misinterpret their standing as divine standing and see no further than themselves and
disregard the truth that they are but figures of the true, (Heb.8.5) that when it is said that they
were called to be chosen of God, a peculiar people, (Deut.14.2) they looked no further than
the flesh, unlike Moses and Abraham who looked further and saw the Israelites and the nation
they formed as being symbols of that which was above. (Exod.25.40; 26.30;27.8; Heb.11.10)
Christ, himself, continually reminds them of this, that they are not the special people they
claim themselves to be, and in one open declaration affirms this. (Jhn.3.16) “For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.” Did they listen to the Son of God? Did they hear him?
No! But turned on him and had him crucified because he did not favour them and speak
according to their own perception of things, which continues today, both in Jewry and in
Christianity. It is marvellous in our eyes that the Jews had the oracles of God for so long and
were for ever learning and yet never came to the knowledge of the truth, that they had the
testimonies of those that went before them (Heb.11.7-15) and yet still did not understand.
This is what comes of formalism, which is empty of the Spirit of God.

Now, the seed of the serpent will never hear the voice of the Shepherd as they do not belong
to him. (Jhn.10.26) “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.”
Only true sheep hear their master’s voice and it is affirmed in a collective manner, that all
sheep, not just sheep rescued at a given point in time, but all the sheep throughout time.
(Jhn.10.27,28) “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my
hand.” He calls us by his Effectual Calling and Irresistible Grace and we come into the fold.
There are sheep wandering around this world who shall hear the voice of the Shepherd, whilst
at the same time there are those who are not sheep and so shall perish. It is also to be noted
that none shall pluck the sheep out of Christ’s hand because there is to be found none stronger
and greater than God in Christ, and let us put it another way, who, amongst the sons of men
can pluck sinners from the hands of the evil one? Who will stand up and declare he is greater
than the Devil, and declare it to his face and then see what power this demon holds when God
unleashes him at the man who dare to challenge the Devil. Many will challenge God and
brazen it out with him but there are none to be found to challenge the Devil. Faustus may sell
his soul to the Devil and think to cheat him at the midnight hour but he found, to his cost that
he was no match for the wicked one.

It is a common misconception that sheep (domestic) are docile and harmless and are easily
scattered when frightened. It is often the case that sheep will heard themselves together and
make a running attack upon their aggressors, and are quite formidable when coming together
as one. It is the same within the fold of God and the enemy knows this all too well and seeks
to scatter the sheep by this and that error, as well as raising up the flesh so as to become
carnal in a matter rather than to mutually delve into issues for the profit of one another with
the spirit of lowliness. It is good to have a diffident spirit rather than allow the flesh to reign.
Now we see in the Apostles just how far removed from docility sheep are when challenged
and when challenged many carnal minds become alarmed for their preconceptions are not
found to be valid. By the Spirit sheep are a force to be recond with. (Acts.7.54) “When they
heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” In
went the Sword of the Lord and he cut deep within the souls of these wicked individuals.
Sometimes what we say is so powerful that it pricks the hearts of our hearers, hearts are
stirred and emotions rise, leaving some to cry out “What must I do to be saved,” whilst others
wished that they could hide from the face of an angry God. (Rev.6.16,17) “And said to the
mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able
to stand?” This holds true of a soul in that day in which he is convicted of sin, but leaves him
not there as it does the unellect. As there is a day of great tribulation in the hearts of the
chosen ones so it is for the wicked. One heart is recovered and melted by the grace of God the
other double damned and hardened. Many a soul will find that Christ does not only sit upon
the throne of heaven showing mercy to them, (Matt.5.45) by Common Grace, but withstands
them and is angry with them, from that very throne, for remaining in their sinful state
(Ps.7.11; Ezra.8.22) and is equally angry with them as the Lamb of God for trying to justify
themselves without looking toward him and the sacrifice that he did make on Calvary. By
their sins they make themselves obnoxious to the righteousness of God and his wrath by their
attempts to justify themselves by any other means than those laid down by God. (Rom.10.3)
If Christ as king is angry with souls and Christ as the Lamb is angry with souls it is a sorry
situation that can only be resolved by an Act of God. If sinners continue on then they must
reach a spiritual dead end, so to speak, that they turn themselves from common light to
embrace more darkness, and how great is that darkness that will enter their souls that even the
light of truth cannot penetrate. Is it any wonder that in the day of visitation many
unsanctified, unholy souls are driven out of their minds? Driven to despair? Many are driven
to self-murder and madness and bitterness of life, and such deep sorrow that none can ever
understand their despair, of their not being able to be comforted as the darkness becomes
tangible to their souls, that they feel deep within with so much sadness and sorrow, awaiting
the inevitable judgement to come as they witness heaven and hell set in array against them
and themselves no where to turn and to run and hide themselves from their torments. What
are we to say of those who indulge in the practice of sacrificing Christ upon their altars,
afresh, each time they offer up the wafer? Is not this foolishness and trampling underfoot the
blood of Christ as they sweep away all that speaks of Calvary in a great hurry and fluster to
establish their own works, and so the true sacrifice lies under their feet as an unholy, unclean
thing that is despised as one would trample on those things that one counts as being of no
worth, of not being worth a second glance. It does not go unnoticed that Christ continues to
be placed upon the cross within this religion to intimate that if he were to come again that is
just where the formalist would put him, as formalism did in the first place as it is of a
different spirit (Jhn.8.44) than Revealed Religion.

Many today will quote Revelation 6.16 to affirm that Christ does not reign and that he is not
angry with any but this scene simply depicts a future state that shall unfold toward the end of
the world, that it is God who sits here placidly, along with his Son, waiting for the end times
to occur. They are reluctant to mention the fact that Christ is angry and will steer well clear of
this because they cannot deny themselves in this matter, they cannot deny a loving Jesus. It is
true that here we do not have direct mention of Christ as being on the throne, neither does it
say who is on the throne, for the name of God is not mentioned, only the Lamb, which we
know to be Christ in his sacrificial office. The truth of the matter is that he that sits upon the
throne and he that is the Lamb are one and the same, just different aspects of the same person
(tautology). There is no mention of divinity within this picture and yet we accept Christ to be
divine and the one who sits upon the throne, without every questioning the fact because his
Spirit witnesses with our spirit that these things are so and are confirmed by his word
(Rev.4.9;19.4;21.6) that he has presented to us that we should not be ignorant, as some are,
who it is that rules the world, that has control of everything visible and invisible. To deny that
Christ is Sovereign is to deny his divinity. (Jhn.17.2; 1.Cor.12.5,6)

The children of God are Jews

Not only are the elect looked upon and classed as sheep but also they are termed “Jews.”
(Rom.2.28,29) “For he is not a Jew which is one inwardly; neither is that circumcision which
is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” All the
children of God are the legitimate children of Abraham. (Gal.3.7) “Know ye therefore that
they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” The redeemed are Abraham’s
children and his deeds they will do. He received the very same gospel that all the righteous
receive upon starting out upon their journey (Gal.3.8) “And the scriptures, foreseeing that
God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham,
saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Abraham is our father and was redeemed even as
we that confess Christ are the redeemed of the Lord. (Isa.29.22) The gospel of Christ is an
everlasting gospel and could not, therefore, have come about in the new dispensation of the
Church of Jesus Christ as many claim and have claimed for many years now, who continue to
claim that the gospel is peculiar to these last days. As we have seen with Abraham the gospel
is not a new thing and as we have previously mentioned it was first preached to Adam and
Eve. Now, Zacchaeus was a true child of Abraham and because he was of the seed of
Abraham, one of Abraham’s children, elect, chosen and precious in the sight of the Lord.
L(ke.19.9) “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as
he is a son of Abraham.” Who was saved? A son of Abraham. According to the spirit of the
age, salvation could not have come to this house or to any before Calvary; but such do not
understand salvation where salvation began even as they do not understand what the gospel is
though they believe they do. It is only now that the gospel is more openly declared and
acknowledged to the world, and time is now set, a division made between the old world and
its order and the new world and its order. (B.C)

The Lord always puts a difference between those who belong to him and those who do not, of
those who are Jews in the flesh and those that are so in Spirit. Christ owns that the natural
Jews are the children of Abraham according to the flesh. (Jhn.8.37) “I know that ye are
Abraham’s seed: but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.” The Jews
rightly boasted that their father was Abraham, and they had every right to do so, but in spirit
he was no father of theirs, that in spirit they had a rather different father. (Jhn.8.44) “Ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” It is a good thing that Christ
was not around, in the flesh, today as he would be put to death as being anti-Semitic, a Jew
hater, a Hitlerite, etc., by those of his own house, of those who would confess his name,
having put their trust in him. These are the worst of offenders and of the very same spirit that
put Christ upon the cross. The spirit is the same today as it was yesterday and shall be for
ever. Time will never abate the hatred of the Son of God, particularly by those who profess to
be religious as was the case with the Jews of old. It was not the world that Christ had to
contend with, in his day, but the professors of religion who thought within themselves that
they were righteous, honest and true, the great brains of their day, well versed in the oracles
of God and the well springs of understanding. They were so full of themselves that they
missed the Messiah and because of what they were they despised and hated the truth even
when it came to them having put on human form, having contracted to a span to become a
man.

The Jews would have it be known that God was their father and they his special people, but
Christ refers them to their real father, that their father was that infamous wicked spirit, the
devil. If they had been Abraham’s seed they would not have sought to have killed the
Messiah, nor to have offered him to be killed. Here both universal salvation and the earthly
Jews being the people of God comes crashing to the ground, unless, that is, someone would
like to misquote our Lord and call him a liar and to call God a liar, to his face. Are we to say
that Christ lost his temper when calling the Jews devils, that their father is the devil? Christ
knows the spirit of everyone and knows who are the children of the devil and the children of
God. This division was first made in the garden between the seed of the serpent and that of
the woman. (Gen.3.15) ”I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and though shalt bruise his heal.” There is both
good seed and bad seed in this world, the good seed (Matt.13.38) are those that belong to the
kingdom of God, whilst the bad seed belong to the kingdom of the devil. The good seed are
of God (1.Jhn.5.19) and are of the truth (1.Jhn.3.19) and have their names written in the book
of life, (Rev.21.27) inscribed there before the foundation of the world that when the role is
called up yonder, (Jhn.10.3,14) those that are the Lord’s, shall be gathered there. God has
always been their father and they his children, though estranged at the beginning yet begotten
again. (1.Pet.1.3) Christ did not give his life for the seed of Satan, the children of the devil.
This should end all arguments concerning who and who are not the children of God. The
devil and his children are always to be found at war with the children of God, (Rev.12.17)
and this shall continue until Christ calls and end to all hostilities in bringing the world to an
end.

Not to be a child of God does not bare thinking about, to be left to rot and to burn for one’s
sins and be able to do nothing about it, that one cannot placate God but is solely dependant
upon his mercy and that nothing can turn his hand to do what he would not do, and so leaving
saving grace in the hands of The Almighty and further than this to consider supralapsarianism
and its true meaning is beyond comprehension yet we know that the Judge of the whole earth
shall do right. We cannot balance the scales of justice as God does; that some are appointed
to one thing and some to another and that those of us that are saved are saved because God
would save us and not pass us by. What makes any so different from anyone else? It maybe
that some of those who climb in to a profession of Christianity are trying to break out of their
darkness into the light, that they attempt to gain heaven by another means other than Christ
because they have rested in some perverse belief that if they are good they shall get to heaven
or if they trust Christ and put their faith in him it will all be all right on the day. Unfortunately
for all their efforts Christ blocks and bars their way. (12.40) They may set about works of
supererogation, (Mrk.10.22) trusting in Pelagianism or Arminianism but for all their efforts
they shall get nowhere, their works shall be seen as dirty rags and offensive to the wrath of
God. Some take on religion out of spite and hatred for Christ and so they go to and fro
through the earth, walking up and down in it to see what damage they may do, and if they can
spread error they will do so with a stout heart and with glee, and if they can drag Christianity
down into the mud and have it trampled upon under the feet of the profane they will do this
with fervour and so much fervour that it would set the world ablaze if left unchecked. They
will seek to distort the truth and hide it because they know that they cannot do anything
against the truth but if they can have the minds of men to obtain a different view of it then
that is just as good as anything else. They will go about destroying the edifices of the city of
God and overturn its altars and put their own in their place in order that worship maybe
performed to another god, a god of their own creating and a saviour of their own imagination
that takes sinners just as they are for their saviour is inoffensive, meek and mild and pleads
with the sinner and is beside himself that souls do not turn to him. Their saviour has nothing
to do with any Divine Act of God first taking hold of a sinner, and their titular god is a king
in waiting, that has no throne as yet but one day shall be crowned King of kings and Lord of
lords when he comes to sit upon his throne in Jerusalem..

Now Elymas the sorcerer was a child of the devil and sought to turn others, as was his natural
bent and enmity toward the Word of God. He sought to pervert the ways of the Lord, by false
teaching. (Acts.13.9,10) “Then Saul (who is called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his
eyes upon him and said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, though
enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” This is
a case of father like son and Paul knew whom he was dealing with as he, himself had the
Spirit of God, and did not pronounce after carnal-minded man. Elymas was just like his
father. (Gen.3.1) “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden?” The pride and ambition to be as gods was too tempting a thing for
the woman and the devil cast doubt upon the word of God and in effect perverted it, which
had far reaching consequences to us all, even as error comes to us down the ages and corrupts
our view of things. We are all the losers for it. If the Apostle Paul stood amongst us today he
would be thrown out of our congregations even as Christ is thrown out, in spirit, as being too
zealous and fervent for the things of God. Yes, the sad truth of the matter is that Christ is
absent from the congregation of the hypocrite who smile at a different Christ. What a waste
of a life and what a waste of a soul to throw Christ out because one does not wish to hear the
truth but only to hear what one wants to hear, thinking that zeal is ungodly and that the smile
and the smile of the hypocrite is godliness.

There was no love spared between the Jews and Christ, especially when it came to the
Scribes and Pharisees. (Matt.23.15) “Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him two-fold
more the child of hell than yourselves.” Not satisfied with their own spiritual state of being,
of being damned and being the children of Apollyon, they went about venting their hatred on
unsuspecting souls to make them even more damned, more punishable than themselves. They
were wicked, evil and a nasty people, above all others whose venom was spat out at every
passer by. They could not rest and from sea to sea and from shore to shore they sought to
extend their wickedness, across the face of the whole earth. If they could infect the heavens
above them they would have done so. Their intention to do the greatest harm to others is
legendary. They could never rest, day or night as those accursed of God; they were tormented
within. (Rev.14.11) If these words of our Lord were spoken today, he would be set upon by
many who carry his name and pretend to stand beneath his banner. He would be castigated
and called unchristian. It would be said, “You should not speak to the Jews like you do. Do
you not know that they are God’s chosen people? Shame on you! You wicked man.” It is
clear that Christ did not die for these Jews, he did not smooth talk them too, “Put your faith in
me.” We side with Christ because we are his. (Rev.14.13) We are both dead in him and alive,
have rested from our labours, to justify ourselves. Being born again our works do follow us.

The children of God are Priests

Not only are we called Jews but also Priests and together we become a holy priesthood, in the
continual service of God. (1 Pet.2.5) “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
and holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” The
earthly Jews, under the old dispensation were termed priests who would go to make up a holy
nation and become a peculiar people. (Exod.19.6) We have succeeded where they failed for
we are not under law (v.5) but under grace and we have taken their place, so to speak, as the
rightful heirs of the kingdom of God, for they stood in our stead and should have acquired our
kingdom if they could just have kept the law, but it was not to be. The Jews were always to be
the figures of the true heirs of the kingdom of God and to represent us as being God’s
peculiar people, in the fulness of time, even a holy nation. They played their part in the
eternal scheme of things and gave us great illustrations as to what the Lord requireth of us
and the pitfalls and the ways of our Lord and the unfolding of his eternal plan, and such
wonderful stories that without them we would be the losers, and what great things we are
taught throughout the Old Testament.

We are not just a holy priesthood but a royal priesthood. (v.9) “But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness, into his marvellous light.” All these
believers made up a “holy nation”, which we previously mentioned. (Rev.21.24) It was by an
act of saving grace that they and ourselves are made to be a chosen generation and a royal
priesthood as part and parcel of the work of Christ. Having resurrected us from the dead one
of the offices placed upon us is that of priest. (Rev.20.6) “Blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” As priests we make sacrifices
that are acceptable to God as they come through the Great High Priest of our profession, who
by the shedding of his blood makes them acceptable. Our sacrifices should always be laid
upon the altar of our hearts, even that of praise to the Lord. (Heb.13.15) “By him therefore let
us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to
his name.”

The High Priest of the old testament was to take the sin offering and to burn it outside the
camp. (Lev.4.12) “Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp to a clean
place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes
are poured out he shall be burnt.” Christ is both the sacrifice and the priest, of which both
went outside the camp. (Heb.13.12,13) “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the
people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach.” Because Christ made the ultimate sacrifice all that
pertained to the Old Testament must cease in the process of time. (Dan.9.26,27) Like Haman
of old, God used the Romans as his hammer to smash and to destroy Jerusalem and to scatter
the holy people (Dan.12.7). To this very day the sacrifices have not been re-instated. God
hath put it into their hearts to leave off sacrifice. The end of the Jewish state was prophesied
of but the Jews did not take heed to prophecy even after it had been fulfilled in their own
destruction. (Ezek.7.1-1-27)

Christ is our great high priest who has entered in within the veil, for ever, after the order of
Melchisedec. (Heb.6.20) Our high priest prevails before the mercy seat, always making
intercession for us and is always heard and his offering more perfect than that of bulls and
lambs, and is one offering that is once for all made on our behalf, to his Father. There was
and is no more perfect sacrifice than the one that Christ has made for the satisfaction of the
broken law. As we sin, both night and day, in word and in deed, we find Christ’s is ever
present pleading our case as is always accepted, on our behalf, as he has made the perfect
sacrifice that none but he could have made. Many will make and present their sacrifices
before God, of good works, of fastings and prayers, of good intentions, etc., and yet to no
avail. Such things only anger both Father and Son (Rev.6.16) who unite against the sinner for
his wilful rejection of the only means and way of salvation, putting himself before the work
of the Almighty.

There is only one true high priest and one true sacrifice acceptable to God, the man Christ
Jesus. His cry is ever the same, in his intercession for us, because we are ever the same in
respect of the old man. The cry is ever “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
We know that if we are to escape the wrath to come we need a perfect intercessor and
sacrifice and that left to ourselves we would be damned. Even in our present state we are
aware of our failings and declare within ourselves that it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are
not consumed, as twisted and sinful as we are and a total confusion to ourselves when left to
our own devices. If we are barely saved, what shall the ungodly do? (1.Pet.4.18) Christ is the
High Priest who receives the first fruits, (Deut.26.1-11) that is, all those who were redeemed
under the old testament dispensation he too to be his from amongst the mass of humanity as
being given to him of his father.
The children of God Inhabit a City

As the earthly Jews and Priests of old dwelt in an earthly Jerusalem, so its counter part is seen
in heaven along with the chosen children of Israel who go to make up the children and people
of God. The heavenly Jerusalem and its inhabitants are those who are the favourites of the
grace of God, that are redeemed from amongst the sons of men and are set aside as a peculiar
people. It is a city that not only the people of God inhabit but the Lord is also said to dwell in
that city, a city made without human hands as its builder and maker is said to be God.
(Rev.21.2) “And I John saw a holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” We find this repeated again.
(Rev.21.10) “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed
me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” This second
Jerusalem is figurative of the dispensation of grace that all true children of God have an
interest in as it is spoken of as coming down from above, thus directing our hearts upward
and not toward the earth, in which the first Jerusalem is situated. The earthly Jerusalem is
representative, is an analogy of the Law. (Gal.4.25,26) “For this Agar is Mount Sinai in
Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with here children. But
Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Paul claims that this
Jerusalem is our mother, that it belongs to Christians, is representative of the grace of God as
opposed to the law of God. So we have one earthly Jerusalem for the earthly Jews and a
heavenly Jerusalem for the heavenly Christians. Millenialists now have to find yet another
Jerusalem to place upon the earth, a third building whose builder and maker cannot be God
for he has already provided a city for his people, accordingly a new city must appear
somewhere out of the earth, erected by human hands. To follow the Millenialists the Lord
must needs build a third Jerusalem as the sons of God have taken hold of the heavenly one.
Those who avow that Revelation.21.2 is not a heavenly Jerusalem do not accept that it comes
down from heaven. These teachers refuse to acknowledge that if it comes down from heaven
it must, by nature, be heavenly, but they withdraw their minds from this. If it was to be
anything other than a heavenly city then the Apostle John would have said that “I saw new
Jerusalem being built upon earth.” Again, we know that this city that comes down from above
is heavenly for its foundations are heavenly and cannot possibly stand upon a physical earth.
(Rev.21.13-23) If the chiliasts continue on in their belief that this city that comes down from
heaven is to be set up upon earth let them see if it can stand and let them consider that it is
said that Christ does not reign as a king in that city but is the light of that city along with the
glory of God. (v.23) If there is no sun and moon then where does that leave the rest of
humanity?

The earthly Jerusalem was built by man for carnal man that represents a different
dispensation, that of the law, that could not make any soul perfect, but the Jerusalem that is
above, that John witnesses is built by God and is not reliant upon man and is representative of
a far better dispensation of God which we all come under and shelter in, along with Adam
and Eve. Our father Abraham did not look for an earthly city, but a heavenly. (Heb.11.10)
“For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” As Jews
we come daily into this city as calmly and as naturally as those do who inhabit the city of
destruction. It is by God’s grace we have been able to enter this city having previously been
strangers to it and it is this city that we would have others to go to. (Isa.2.2) “And it shall
come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in
the top of the mountains, and shall be exhalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto
it.” We desire that others may join us in the salvation that we have obtained in the Lord, for
our city is far better than that which stands upon earth and our God far better than the Jewish
god who remains under law. Only in our city shall souls find peace, comfort and safety and
there they shall meet up with others of like mind, multitudes of brethren in the Lord that
come out of every nation under heaven. (Act.10.35) Many will not come with us (Isa.2.3)
and we pity and mourn for them for our city and our God are far better than theirs. They
simply look upon us as fools and do not know anything different than that which they know
by nature.

Our city and kingdom does not rise from our hearts or vain imaginations but is, rather,
planted in them, the kingdom of God is within us, (Lke.17.21) comes down from above and
directs our thoughts and affections to those things way above this fallen world. In the city
and kingdom of our avowed enemy there is perpetual darkness that can be felt in the souls of
fallen men, but in our kingdom and city there is perpetual light. (Rev.21.23) “And the city
had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it:
and the Lamb is the light thereof.” May we go even further and declare that this city not only
reflects the dispensation of grace but is made up of all true believers, (1 Pet.2.5) Jesus Christ
being the chief corner stone, built upon Mount Zion, (v.6) which the Jews rejected (v.8) and
continue to reject the Jews rejected along with the rest of the fundamental beliefs that God
would have us to know and embrace. We are lights that shine out from this city to the world.
(Matt.5.14) “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”

It is interesting to note that the earthly Jews misinterpret scripture to claim that they are still
the people of God and that their Messiah will come and establish his kingdom upon earth and
save them from their enemies, that he will put their enemies to flight, that he shall be both
their king and their saviour. Even though Christ vehemently cried out that the kingdom
spoken of in scripture was not of this world, and neither was it to be understood as an earthly
kingdom, with an earthly king, ( Jhn.18.36) the pernicious Jews nevertheless cast him to one
side as not their Messiah and he cast them away. (Matt.21.43; 8.12) Because they were dead
to spiritual things and carnally minded, they could not help but take what was spiritual and
interpret it after a literal manner, as something physical and natural. They had not the Spirit
so could not understand any heavenly thing which led them to crucify the Messiah, to have
him put to an ignominious death. Because of literalism they did not see that the Messiah had
come. This attitude continues to this very day and shall always remain with them as they are
no better and no different than the heathen around them. They shall die the same death as the
heathen and end up in hell with the heathen for there is now no difference between Jew and
Gentile. We see all too often individuals interpreting the whole of scripture after a literal
manner, which shows them to be devoid of the Spirit. They cannot leave this earth behind as
their heart is not in heaven. Without the Spirit a soul can never leave earth, can never
transcend into the realms above to see into heavenly things, they cannot ascend with John.
(Rev.4.2) Many godly souls will be caught following many of these individuals and their
teachings, whilst at the same time their hearts testifying that there is just something no quite
right about what these teachers are conveying, that things just do not add up and there is no
warmth in their teaching, just man and words, nothing inspiring heavenward, nothing feeding
the soul. Their words instruct the mind but do nothing for the soul to draw heats heavenward.
Some false professors are so crooked that they will affirm that somethings should be taken
spiritually but as soon as they have said this they fall into literalism not being able to discern
between that which is heavenly and that which is earthly. From such we withdraw ourselves.

If the Jews did not recognise the Messiah when he first walked this earth, how will they
recognise him when he appears the next time around to conclude all things as they are still as
perverse as ever they were, and even worse now that the kingdom of God has been taken
away from them and given to another people, making them no different and no better than the
Heathen. (Matt.21.43)? Nowhere in scripture do we read that the Jews will recognise Christ
when he comes again. They had the scriptures before their very eyes and yet still missed the
fact that the Messiah stood before them. What shall change? Nothing shall change because
they are still a generation of stiff-necked people who would put to death the Messiah once
again if he were to walk the other as in days of old. Christ calls them vipers (Matt.3.7) who
refuse to believe in the trinity, conception of sin, Christ’s divinity, the virgin birth, etc. Christ
also called them wicked people, children of the Devil, (Jhn.8.44) liars, blasphemers,
hypocrites, idolaters, murderers, petty thieves, etc. Until they are born again they cannot see
the truth, they cannot see the kingdom of God and the Lamb in the midst of that kingdom and
bow and confess that Christ is King of kings, and Lord of lords, that his kingdom is not of
this world. Christ is not coming to bring the Jews to repentance but to drag them screaming to
the pit, and how shall they avoid such judgement? (Matt.3.7) “But when he saw many of the
Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Individuals within the Jewish nation, as
within every nation in the world, shall be saved, but to believe the lie that Christ shall be
recognised of the Jews when he arrives again is quite something else, is simply repeating
what the Jews then believed and still believe, who would have their Messiah to sit upon the
throne of Israel, as their king and to save them from their enemies. Some will go as far as
claiming a mass conversion of the Jews. Some live in the land of make-believe. The
Millenarians of this world follow the Jews and impose their teachings upon the Church,
altering this and that to accommodate their teachings in order to propagate falsehood and to
entice the children of God away from who they are and the city that they belong to and the
Lord Jesus Christ and Christianity as being, and ever will be, the predominant religion. They
attempt to draw souls to view the Jews as a special people when it is the redeemed that are
the special people of God and that Judaism is dead and buried, though it be practised by the
Jews it is a dead thing that cannot save a soul. Jews must become Christians in order to live
and abide in the heavenly Jerusalem. Until the Jews come to recognise that all their sacrifices
cannot take away their sins that Christ, and Christ alone is the very one that takes away sin,
they shall perish where they stand and no doctrine of a future Messiah and the privileges of
the past will not save them.

The city that we dwell in is like no other city and is far removed from the original place that
the Lord drove us into because of our sinful nature, into the city of destruction under the rule
of the great high sheriff of that city. Within the former city there was no light, only darkness
and despair and an unrelenting feeling of inner emptiness. (Ps.107.4) There was nothing
satisfying to our souls as all things had been destroyed in the great judgement that followed
man’s disobedience, (Rev.8;9) which destroyed both spiritual and physical worlds, and
answers to why we have famines and wars, etc. In our original state we were sold, though we
did not know it at the time, blind beggars that we were, into bondage and into the hands of a
tyrant, that spiteful spirit that rules the children of men, and how glad we were made to be to
have escaped this situation and this his city and kingdom and rule, and the darkness, that
perpetual darkness that emanates from its ruler. We now have a far better city and its ruler
radiates eternal light. (Rev.21.23) Now we walk and sojourn in a far better place and within
the hearing and under the rule of a far better Lord, that has prepared us to live and walk in his
very presence, giving us the earnestness of his Spirit and the promise of the fulness of all we
here see, and a great deal more, when we visit him in person and look upon that face that
looks upon us, and with no infirmity on our part, but face to face. (1 Cor.13.12) “For now we
see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know
even as also I am known.” The eyes of our faith are not as clear as they should be. If the little
we see now, by the eye of faith, is so pleasing to us, what shall it look like here after? Now
we come into the city of our living God. (Heb.12.22) “But ye come unto mount Sion, and
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
angels) what shall it feel like to be there in person? It must not be misconstrued that when we
see Christ we shall see the marks of the punishment for sin, as some misconstrue the meeting
of Christ and Thomas after the resurrection for this was for the times then standing, that there
would be no doubting that the person who stood before all the disciples was the risen Lord.
When Christ appears the second time there will be no sentimental looking for the wounds and
marks that he bore for he will appear without sin, without those marks. (Heb.9.28)

We should be careful that we do not lose the efficacy of this our kingdom, and land that our
Lord continues to care for, (Deut.11.12) by sinning it away, by turning to the things of this
world that promise so much joy and happiness to the flesh but draw the heart away from God,
saps our life and the Spirit within. It is not good to lose the joy of all that we own for
temporal preferments and the Jezebels of our lives should be taken and thrown out of the
window of our walk before the Lord, with just and holy contempt as they savour nothing that
is of God and if we allow them sway in our lives we shall not only lose the joy of our
kingdom but lose the joy of the fellowship of the Lord. (2.Chron.15.2) The world promises
much and is tantalising to the eyes with all its ways and new inventions that draw the heart
and mind away from all that is sacred and true. When a soul takes up with the things of the
world and brings many of its ungodly divices into their homes the world looks on and sees no
difference between itself and those who profess to be Christians. As the world looks on they
content themselves in their ways for their ways appear no different than those who proclaim
to them to be saved, and this is also the case in their speak. When ungodliness moves into the
home righteousness and peace flee through the open window of the heart, making for crooked
thoughts and speech that conforms to that which is to be found in the ungodly and so adds to
the belief of unregenerates that there is no difference between themselves and those that
profess Christ. Many will argue to keep up an unholy life whilst professing to be holy, but
what have they gained for their obstinacy when God takes away their souls? To be taken up
with this world and to follow its ways will not fit a soul for heaven, that is, will not testify to
a soul on the road of rectitude, glory and grace.

The children of God are Kings

We are not only Jews and Israelites that are eternally saved (Isa.45.17. “But Israel shall be
saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded
world without end”) but are made to be kings in the kingdom of God. (Rev.6.1) “And hath
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever
and ever. Amen.” We are called and made to be a royal priesthood. From beggars to priests
from priests to kings, to royally sacrifice to the Lord. Once we were beggars and chancers in
the world and more fitted for hell than heaven, but it has been made part of our birth right that
we should rule, to be raised to the dizzy heights of power and authority. Having chosen us out
of the world. (1.Cor.1.27) “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty.” It is the privilege of all the redeemed of the Lord to sit upon thrones and we see
them collectively doing so. (Rev.5.9,10) “And they sung a new song, saying, Though art
worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast
made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign upon the earth.” The work of
redemption is complete and is so for all the elect who shall walk the earth as kings and
priests, as those that have inherited it by the spirit of meekness that overrules all of this
world’s haughtiness. The world should not rule our spirits but we should be the rulers of
them, that when the world rises up in contention with us we should ignore their jibes and not
allow their unruly spirit get the better of us. If their lives are disquieted why should we allow
their spirit to trouble our spirits, after all, we hold the power and the authority and should
know better and do better than the children of unrighteousness. We should give such who
would attempt to drag us down to their level a stern rebuke, reminding them that they are
answerable to God, and that we shall pray for them. (Rom.12.21)

It must not be over-looked that as the kingdom of God has its kings so does the kingdom of
the devil, (Rev.19.19) and not only kings but princes and its princes were at the forefront in
putting the King of Glory to an ignominious death upon the tree. (Acts.10.39) If the princes
of the devil had known what they were doing they would not have rushed to have had the
Lord Jesus Christ put to death, (1.Cor.2.8) but they were not wise princes (v.6) for they were
the princes of the air, of this lower world, (Eph.6.12) the princes of hell, whom Christ
triumphed over. (Col.2.15) No earthly princes put Christ upon the cross Human hands may
have put him there but the underlying force was that of hell represented in those who put
Christ upon the cross. We should not over look the fact that there are various ranks of spirits
within the kingdom of the Devil as there are in the kingdom of God. We ignore this at our
own peril. Many not bearing this in mind have subsequently misinterpreted scripture when it
comes to speak of the kings and princes of the earth as though all were physical beings.

The authority that we have over ourselves should not be lost by submitting to the corruption
of the flesh and the enticing things of the world which will rob us of that inner force and
influence that we tend to have when walking with the Lord, in our offices as priests and
kings. Adam is a case in point. When Adam wilfully sinned he lost all authority and dominion
over his world, and was left naked, ashamed and exposed and ran away from God, and so we
shall find ourselves in the very same position, left naked, feeling ashamed and exposed to our
enemies (Rev.16.15) and out of communion with God. Let us not forget that we, collectively,
as a body of believers all reign with Christ and that we are seen in the day of grace to wear
the robes and the crowns of our profession. (Rev.20.6) The bible never tells us that we ever
take off these robes or crowns and hence we can be assured that we do reign with Christ. .

We sit upon thrones in accord with our union with our great King and Potentate Jesus Christ
who rules the world. (Eph.1.21,22) “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the
church.” As kings we have our armies that stand with us in the fight, if we have not, that is,
offended them by open sin and disorderly lives. Elisha was not only a prophet but, with us a
king (2.Kings.6.17) and like Elisha we are surrounded by the heavenly host. (Heb.12.22) If
we offend God we shall not only offend him but all the heavenly host and we shall witness
them turning and riding off, to be at a distance to ourselves and left exposed to the onslaught
of the enemy that shall rush in to war against us. It is false teaching that robs us of our offices
as kings. Many admit we are priests because it is so evident and clear that they could not
deny such a thing out of sheer embarrassment, but when it comes to being kings they will
wrongly divide and cut up the scriptures making one part of the verse to read one thing and
another part to read something else.

Eventually Christ will stop the war that exists between heaven and hell, between God and
Satan, between good spirits and bad spirits, in the day that he chooses and following on from
that day he will return all things to his Father. (1.Cor.15.28) “And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him, that God may be all in all.” It is wickedness to ever imagine let alone express the
belief that the devil is in charge of this world. He is restrained and it is the Lord that rules all.
If the devil was in charge the sun and the moon would fall from the sky, the seas would over-
flow the land, the mountains would collapse, murder and mayhem would be the order of the
day. Common Grace would not exist and in its place nothing but evil. Why are we not
consumed as mankind is “Hell bent” on its own destruction as it follows the spirit of the
father of destruction and continues to try and destroy everything that is of God, even
himself? Mankind always comes to the brink of destruction and yet destruction never comes.
If the devil were in charge we would have seen the end of all things a long, long time ago.
The thought that the devil is in charge of the world belongs to the children of disobedience
and not to the children of God, for the children of disobedience enthrone their god, have him
as the sovereign ruler of the world whilst God stands by as an impotent being who is beside
himself in not being able to do anything but look on. Atheism that separates God from his
creation, not only denying God himself but the operations of his hand.

The thrones that we sit on are thrones of rule and authority (Titus.2.15) and the laws that we
convey to the world are royal laws, befitting our station. (James.2.8) “If ye fulfil the royal law
according to the scriptures, Though shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.” We once
had no rule or authority over ourselves and even less in the world that we once lived in. But
now we order men to repent and to believe the gospel, to fear God and to live peaceably
amongst themselves, to cleave to that which is good and to flee from that which is wicked
and unprofitable, etc. Before the disciples where regenerated they had no power or authority
but after regeneration (Matt.19.28) they exercised power and authority over the world in
general and their fellow Jews in particular. The royal law and the gospel went forth from
their mouths and none could say that these individuals had taken power and authority by
themselves, their authority was of reigning monarchs and at the end of their journey they
shall be further crowned for their being shown to be the saved of the Lord. (2.Tim.4.8) Also,
as kings we take things personally, we look to ourselves and set about ruling our houses,
these vessels of fallen flesh. We now set about the task of mortifying sin, of governing our
spirits, taking the authority and government and rule of our lives that once we were unable to
do. We reign in life because our sovereign reigns (Rom.5.17) and we must strive lawfully in
all that we do in order to be crowned in our works as we are in our standing before the Lord.
What we do in this world should be done in an honest manner and seen through to its
conclusion and then we shall shine before others, we shall have the crowning glory of the
work of our hands. (2 Tim.25) “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned,
except he strive lawfully.” Paul’s work was crowned. (Phil.4.1) We are no longer ruled by sin
and its power over us, but tempted by it, and as old-fashioned kings that we are we wage war
against it. hostilities will never cease in this long drawn out battle and as long as we continue
to fight we shall know what it feels like to rule. When we cease from our holy warfare we
lose all power and authority, and when we begin to feel its absence we can expect that the
children of the devil will see it and take advantage of us, and we shall smart for it.
The children of God are Soldiers

From regal realms we come to another aspect of our lives, if we are the true children of
Revealed Religion. (Gal.1.12) We are called to be soldiers of Christ and are informed that we
are in a state of warfare, a holy warfare that can only have one outcome as previously
mentioned. Here we go further into this matter of warfare as the Apostle outlines that all
believers are soldiers of Jesus Christ and that some are engaged more aggressively in this war
fare than others and so it is that there are those who are more clad in the armour of God than
others that take to the field of contention. There are many types of soldiers in the ranks of the
army of the Lord. There are those that are just starting out and there are those that are weak
and sickly and know nothing of the blessing of being stationed close to their General, who
remain at the rear, and there are those who understand what the warfare is all about and go
forth with the Lord of their profession, fighting against the forces of darkness, wherever they
maybe found. Here a skirmish and there a skirmish whilst many look on with wonder and
amazement as to what all the fuss is about, many leaving the field of contention only to take
up with the enemy to oppose the forces of light. They will take up with one called Apostasy, a
great general in the camp of the unrighteous who opposeth all that dare speak of God whilst
bearing the name of religion.

Those who will take up the rear and shirk and quake at contention may feel safe from the
battle but soon realise that nowhere is safe that even though they will not get involved in the
thick of the war they stand warring against themselves, against their own fleshly nature and
that of the devil who will not leave them in peace, will not leave them alone. They may turn
away from one foe but they cannot get away from he that is the old man of war. Many will
confess that they are blessed of God because they feel no contention within and have none
without, that God is blessing their souls by giving them peace and quiet that passeth all under
standing, that all is well with them though it appears not with others. What a rude awakening
these poor deluded souls will have when they come before the judgement seat of Christ.
(Matt.7.22) “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”
There is no discharge in this war between the world, the flesh and the devil, no where to hide
and nowhere to rid ourselves of these enemies whilst we live within this world. One cannot
have grace within the soul and not have warfare, for darkness will continue to oppose light.
No contention, no grace.

Christians are a contentious people who are continuously fighting one thing or another. It is a
holy warfare waged against the world the flesh and the devil that can never cease as these
foes fight against them and their God. Every child of God should be good soldiers, should
become battle hardened. (2.Tim.2.3) “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ.” In order to do they must put on the whole armour of God. (Eph.6.11) “Put on
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” In all
warfare there are various foes that will come to the fore in order to oppose the light of the
truth and in their contentions they do not rest night or day but are ever thinking up other ways
to win the day, that they might triumph over truth and go on their way with smiles of pride
and self esteem. The devil has many princes and legions that are sent out into the world not
only to corrupt the truth and word of God, but to challenge the sons of God over it concerning
its authenticity, its rules its demands and its ways. Because the devil and his crew are so
fierce when contending against the truth they never understand the inevitable outcome of the
war that they wage. As previously mentioned if the devil had not been so fierce in contending
with the truth he and his princes would not have put Christ to death (1.Cor.2.8) and so bring
an end to that power that the devil had.

Now as we prepare to put on the whole armour of God, which is a work within itself, we are
declaring that we are making all things ready to defend our positions within the kingdom of
God and to fight against the darkness of the Wicked One, in the interest of truth and
righteousness and of our God, to defend that which is right, honest and just regardless of what
others may say and teach to the contrary, which reflect the forces of darkness within the
world, and, indeed many creeping into the external profession of the Church to turn upon its
head and to cast down and trample upon all her teaching that make for a firm foundation of
doctrinal belief. The forces of darkness are not only to be found destroying the fundamentals
of the faith but maybe seen attempting to destroy individual lives by enticing them away from
God. If the devil can pollute the stream and source of doctrine he will have a fair chance of
destroying the walk of the individual believer, and this has proved very effective over the
years, lulling many into false beliefs and a false sense of security. Believers shall never be
without a fight if they are what they claim to be and if they are true to God then they will
naturally fight for him and here we have the difference between light and darkness in that
error will always contend for error and truth will always contend for truth. Some may run
away from scriptural debate and contention, looking for an easy life and give wicked excuses
as to why they refuse to stand up for the Lord, but they will find that their sins will find them
out another day, a day in which they least expect it.

Ministers (2.Tim.2.3) should be in the forefront of the war against error and unrighteousness,
they should be so well equipped that they may be the first to take to the field to fight against
error, but far too often this is not the case and a shameful retreat, even before entering the
field, is sounded in their hearts as they find themselves shallow in The Faith, if they hold The
Faith in the first place, and so being unqualified, out of step with the Lord and scared witless
they run off, they say to themselves, and then to others “Let us not be contentious.” A hireling
will always leave the sheep to the enemy of souls, to allow the enemy to have full reign over
the sheep of the Lord’s pasture and the fallen of the world. If you cannot trust a minister be
true and faithful to the word of God and to contend for it then who can you trust? If all are
self-seeking then the devil and his fellows will seize the moment and do as much destruction
as God allows them to do, for at the end of the day God holds the reigns of his servants and
uses them to punish idle shepherds. As far as our warfare is concerned it is accepted that it is
not carnal or physical but spiritual, fought in a completely different realm than this world
beneath our feet, within a sphere that no carnal eye can see or comprehend. (Eph.6.12) “For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Here we
have repeated that higherarchy within the underworld, with whom Christ fought, on our
behalf, at Calvary and has always fought on behalf of his church, throughout history, by his
Word and by his Spirit as they go hand in hand. (Rev.2.16) The life of a Christian is one large
battle ground against ungodliness and unrighteousness, against lies and error which war shall
never have an end in their lives until they glide through the gates of the new Jerusalem and
enter into Cohent Freedom, as faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ and not as others that do not
relish to take up the arms of faith, that shall perish in their sins for being something that they
are not, having taken the name of the Lord never lived to the standard of that name, never
loved Christ enough to lay down their lives for him. .

All believers must cultivate a stout heart and aquaint themselves with the fundamentals of
The Faith so that they may be confident, stout and firm in whom they have believed and to be
able to give an honest and confident reply to all that would ask of them the hope that lies
within them, and that they may stand firm as to what they believe when all around are going
this way and that, being tossed about by every wind of doctrine, every fancy and fashionable
doctrine that tingles the ears and instructs the mind but does nothing for the soul, and that
having settle the truth within the heart to stand and having done all to stand (Eph.6.13)
against the onslaught of the wicked one, that come hell or high water they may stand firm
with assurance that all is well with their souls and that none can pluck them from their fathers
hand, that free will is a none sense and comes from the pit that would undermine The Faith
once for all delivered to the saints, that such things bring confusion and trouble within the
Church in particular and the world in general, that will replace theocracy with democracy and
have man rule instead of God, see man’s laws enacted instead God’s.

Within Christian warfare carnal reasoning is outlawed (1.Cor.2.1,4. Gal.1.10) but not
sanctified reasoning that speaks a different language than the world (v.70 and has a different
disposition towards the truth that does not seek to instruct the mind but seeks to instruct the
heart. It is the heart that is aimed at for the carnal heart must be persuaded concerning the
truth for the mind may make an accent to it but what good is that in altering the man?

It is needful and necessary to increase in sanctified wisdom and understanding in order to be

able to see and discern the persons that we are dealing with in and to be able to answer them
accordingly, as the situation demands. But first we need to know ourselves and to fight
against inner corruption and to deny it a place in our lives, then, and only then shall we obtain
the strength of purpose to take the high ground. If we are unable to take to the high ground
because of personal sin then that is a sin in itself and it is needful to return to the first works,
to seek forgiveness and to put all things in order for we are not as blind as we once were but
know the sin that we have committed and must have done with it. We should be as we were
when first converted and have done with the wickedness of the flesh, (Isa.30.22) have it
subdued as it carries with it a death sentence. When setting out on our warfare sanctified
common sense should inform us that each and every person requires a different answer in
respect of what they do and what and that which they profess to believe, that we give a stern
look to some whilst others a word of caution and to others a harsh rebuke, whilst others a soft
and kind and considerate answer (Prov.16.6) knowing that we ourselves were once like
themselves, in various respects. There are those who just love an argument for the sake that
are not interested in finding out the truth of anything in particular, and from such it is best to
withdraw. (Prov.10.19; 14.7; 1.Tim.6.5) We should be the rulers of our own spirits and
exercise the word of authority over our fellows. We do not need and are not required to
answer every man. (Titus.3.9-11) “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and
contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an
heretick after the first and second admonition reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted
and sinneth, being condemned of himself.”

There are a few divisions within the army of Christ, as in any body of soldiers that go to
make up an armed force. Whilst all fight for the same sovereign and for the same cause it is
needful that there be divisions that all may not be foot soldiers but some of cannon and some
of horse, some building bridges whilst other provide the food and supplies to wage war.
There are various ranks and abilities within the army of Christ. (Eph.4.11) Through out the
passage of time there have been seen some noticeable soldiers of godliness that have risen up
above the parapet of the general members, that are at arms, and have been the cause of much
revolution in the world, even as their counterparts that have equally risen up in the world not
to propagate godliness but wickedness, the Darwin’s of this world. By powerful preaching
and dissemination of the truth, by godly men, worlds have been turned upside down and
darkness caused to flee. It is these soldiers who were faithful and true to their course and
were rewarded for their efforts as God is no man’s debtor. These are of those who overcome
great difficulties within their lives, that keep the works of God, more guardedly, more
knowledgeably and circumspectly, were singled out to become individuals, public individuals
of authority, above all others. (Rev.2.26) “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works
unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of
iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my
Father.” The rod we know to be wheelded by Christ is his word issuing forth to the
punishment and destruction of evil, as it sometimes is likened to a two-edged sword that goes
to the heart of a matter. (Heb.4.12) The rod is not only a figure of breaking down and
destroying the strongholds of Satan and error but a figure of external judgement being called
forth upon fallen men, that there are times when the world seems to shake and to fall apart at
the seams, at such times men will not declare it to be the hand of the Lord, the rod of his
indignation, but claim it to be of natural causes, of events that maybe controlled if man did
this and that to prevent them, for they wish not to retain God in all their thoughts, though
some will turn when the Lord brings upon a troublesome times, (Ps.107.24-31) but they soon
forget their troubles and whose hand it was that saved them from their distresses and so
forgetting whom they had called upon to rescue them from their difficulties they go on their
way never acknowledging the Common Salvation of the Lord. Now to see something through
to its end is a good thing as it shows dedication and loyalty to the work undertaken and to the
one who has provided the work. The heathen well understand this to be the case and aspire to
great things within the realm that they find themselves in. They dedicate themselves to
achieve their goals, though many in an unlawful way, and it is recognised that it is all to easy
to give up half way or even at first setting out but with determination they press ahead and so
should all believers within their respect fields. What a remarkable transformation the
Reformers made upon the world, and were brought to the world by the Lord at his appointed
time. (1.Sam.12.6) Not only did these individuals know the truth but had the power and
authority riding along with it, cutting asunder and smashing to pieces the bulwarks of error,
most noticeably within the Roman Catholic Church, one of the many heads that Apollyon
has. (Rev.13.11) “And I behold another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two
horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” Papal Rome replaced that of Imperial Rome, at
its downfall. One would have thought that Imperial Rome was dead and buried, so to speak,
but this is not the case for the spirit never dies and continues on in the religious establishment
that once ruled the known world and seeks so to do again through other heads that come forth
from the beast. The Reformation struck at the heart of this beast and gave it a mighty blow
freeing the nations from its tyrannical rule and dispelling the great darkness that it spread
across the world whilst its priests and prelates and monks in Rome became fatter and fatter
whilst the world became poorer and poorer and more destitute of the truth and basics of life,
being taxed to the hilt by a greedy establishment that first appeared like a lamb but soon its
true nature was seen.

We cannot avoid the fact that earthly nations and peoples and tongues are transformed for the
better when they come into contact with truth, when they act upon it and allow it to transform
their thoughts and so their lives whereas the opposite is true that when lies and falsehood are
the order of the day then all bodes ill “for righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a
reproach to any people.” (Prov.14.41) What is it that makes nations think that they can
prosper in lies? Why do they believe that there is some intrinsic efficacy in lies and deceitful
practices as though by them they gain this and that, for do they not understand by experience
that their sins will find them out, will eventually catch up with them, that there is a sting in
the tale of unrighteousness? Now there are those who claim that Christians should never go
to war to defend their country, that it is unchristian and unchrist-like to take up arms. Such
are the thoughts of the wicked and the true enemies of any country who will allow others to
fight for their freedom and in days of relative ease these persons exhalted for their stand, who
should be called parasites upon the backs of others. It is the duty of every Christian to defend
their country for who better to take up arms than those who are prepared to meet their Maker?
Is it not wicked of people to say that the unregenerate should go to war and not the regenerate
for they would have those who are unprepared to meet God lay down their lives. Such is the
perverseness of man when man rules his own thoughts. As soldiers of Jesus Christ
regenerates are very patriotic, they will fight for their country and their king, and will not
cease from endless fight, for as the man, so is his strength. (Judge.8.21) They will fight on all
fronts, from heavenly to earthly in order to uphold that which is right, in order to oppose the
aggressor and destroyer of souls. If there are any that lack fortitude they maybe assured that
if they call upon the name of the Lord and seek his face he will hear out of his holy mount
and grant them strength in time of need. (2.Chron.14.11; Deut.7.21) It is always good to
remember who we are and whose army we have been enlisted into, that we have not chosen
this way of life but God has chosen it for us, that we may be his standard bearers against his
enemies, that God has put the sword of truth into our hand and our hearts he himself going
forth to the battle and we following on in his footsteps (Josh.1.16) whilst we witness turn
coats leaving the field. (2.Tim.4.10)

There are those who claim to be soldiers of Christ who would try and make out that they, and
they alone, are closer to the General and Captain of salvation, that they are more blessed than
others. They proclaim this through their hypocritical smiles and haughty hearts as they look
down on the sons of God. (Lke.18.9) Some may be found playing the fool and taken up with
dancing ‘before the Lord’. They take up their drums, their electric guitars, their trumpets,
their cymbals, etc., in praise of their god, whilst the true soldiers stand upon the field of battle
shaking their heads at such nonsense, knowing that the only joy to be had is that which comes
from serving the Lord, in the beauty of holiness and standing steadfast for, and with, the
truth, unlike their counterparts who want nothing to do with the sword of the Lord and throw
down the contentious sword of truth and refuse to serve the Captain of ‘their salvation’, of
him whom they claim too have and too hold, far above their so called brethren. Their interest
is only to satisfy their fleshly lusts and to play the fool and to mock God in the process. They
will be contentious, however, in owning their sinfulness and contend, very vigorously that
God would have them to take up cymbals and trumpets and all musical instruments and that
not to do so is dishonouring to him. They are dishonest individuals who can never follow the
truth for they are not united to the author of it but are united to the father of lies and are
selective in all that they say and do as they purposefully and wilfully ignore the scriptures on
the very point that they are contentious of. (Ps.149.3,6-9) Our Lord has a word for such,
(Matt.15.14) and contends that they are not of his house, of his planting. (v.15) We find these
persons illustrated in ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ and are seen as those that cross the River
Jordan without any problems, without any struggle from the flesh as they head for the pearly
gates in a boat whilst Pilgrim soldiered on in the river, continually thinking that at any
moment he would drown, yet carries on fighting. Jordan's waters were ready to drown the
pilgrim as the boatman sailed past him without any care in the world and does not stop to
help Pilgrim for his only thoughts were of self. Now the boatman arrives at the gates of
heaven with a flourish and is greeted by the door men of that place and thinking that all is
well with his soul he starts to enter through the gates only to be told that there is yet another
entrance, another way to enter heaven. (Matt.7.13) Gladly he goes with the messengers of the
Lord and led away to a side door in the mountain and he is there cast down into hell. Only
the Pilgrim himself was rewarded, for he took the God-given way to glory and trod upon the
narrow way which was despised by the boatman. The pilgrim showed himself to be a true
believer in Jesus Christ for he struggled and fought, as only a true child of God does in this
world. Hypocrites, in religion will continue to row their boats and Pilgrims will continue to
struggle, for each are what they are and can be no different than what they are. The one will
continue to mock God and the other to love and revere him in the beauty of holiness.

The children of God are a Praying People

The children of God are not only soldiers of Christ but are prayerful people, and are genuine
in their exercises, who are submissive to their King (Isa.33.17) and are want to ask of him for
his divine help as he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, in those times of need, which is
daily, (Matt.6.11-13) even in times of the greatest of their afflictions when trying times come
and the rod has not been spared from them. (Isa.26.16) Upon conversion they are brought
into the house of the Lord, into the house of prayer (Isa,56.7) and there they are given to pray,
to cry Abba Father from a natural born spirit, as naturally and as effortlessly as only those
that are born of the Spirit of God. They do not question or think about what they are doing
but do it as a matter of course, as though they have always done such a thing; it is second
nature to them and nothing out of the ordinary, like daisies that adorn the grass, they pop up
and smile as only daisies can. (Acts.9.11) Being born of the Spirit of God the regenerate soul
will continue to pray as the Spirit aids and assists them. (Rom.8.26) True prayer is that which
is done with the greatest of reverence, veneration, and adoration of the Divine Being, with a
kneeling heart as those dependant upon the kindness and generosity of their Father, who will
not turn a deaf ear to their cries. Prayer is not the wooden motionless exercise of words for
that is the deadness of formalism and its dead professors. The heart of a child of God is
different, so different than that of the mere professors of Christianity, as their hearts are
tender and fleshly, hearts that desire that they shall be kept from temptation and sin and
delivered from themselves and that the Lord would not bring them into condemnation as they
eye their faults and acknowledge that of themselves they are nothing and less than nothing
and above all things most wanting. They have a singular eye to the kindness and perfection
of their Saviour to deliver them from evil. They know that their prayers are nothing if their
Lord’s intercession (Rev.8.3) is not forthcoming and accept that it is of the Lord that their
prayers are made acceptable upon the altar of his glorified humanity that continues to be
efficacious to all believers across time.

True prayer is that lifting up of the soul to God (Ps.25.1) which cannot be done in a state of
sin, (2.Kings.8.33,34) which has to be put away and dealt with. The regenerate will pour out
his heart as only he can, will pour out his heart to the God of their lives (Ps.62.8) and eye the
Lord as the great Potentate and Divine ruler of heaven and earth and of all created things,
(Matt.6.10) giving the Lord Jesus Christ the glory due to his name and position as God over
all and blessed forever, the divine provider and upholder, acknowledging his rightful place
within both worlds, of the visible and invisible and within that kingdom that is contained
within their hearts, (Lke.17.21) which they sincerely desire the ungodly to know and that
such a kingdom might take the place of the kingdom of darkness that is to be found in the
hearts of all fallen sons of Adam. The regenerate would desire that souls would
acknowledge the sovereignty of the God whom they serve, that “all things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (Jhn.1.3) The prayers of the faithful
ascend both morning and evening (Ps.88.1) and at diverse other times, and they have neither
any set formulas nor words, unlike the hypocrites in religion, as the Israel of God face each
and every day differently, each circumstance of their lives being different from the former
even as the texts that they may employ in their divine worship, texts being expounded upon
and read to aid in prayer but not to replace it, for sometimes it is necessary to resort to the
fountain to refresh instruct the dull mind and to focus and to concentrate the mind when
young in the faith. When we talk to the Lord and commune with him, as we walk through this
barren world, we may take up no particular position, though kneeling is more reverential, it is
the heart that matters, that must kneel before the Lord. Outward expressions are nothing
unless the inward disposition is right before the Lord. It is with lowliness of heart that we
may look upon as praying as we make known our desires, requests and necessities known to
the Lord, whilst blessing his holy name for who he is and who he has made us to be.

In prayer we take up a position of submissiveness as sheep before the Great Shepherd of our
souls. (Ps.95.6) “O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our
Maker”. This is the true spirit of the children of God who would desire that all should follow
them to the house of the Lord and to worship and to pray to him in the beauty of holiness.
(Isa.2.3) In times of great affliction we maybe given to fall upon our faces (Numb.16.22)
whilst at other times we take an upright position before the throne of grace. (Mark.11.25) It
is not the position, place, time or words that count but the condition of the heart. If it is not
kneeling it is not praying. Some will have it that it is a matter of words and has nothing to do
with the heart pouring out its feelings before the Lord. Such will put forth words to no effect,
(Matt.23.14) whereas the righteous may pray without any audible sound as prayer goes
deeper than any verbal utterance of man. (1.Sam.1.13)

If we regard sin in our hearts, have a bad disposition, we shall not be heard (Ps.66.18) and if
we live in sin that is equally just as bad. (Jhn.19.33) In all things we must be upright and
honest and bring nothing of anything to the Lord but our hopelessness and lean upon him and
trust to the Holy Ghost to guide us in all that we have to say as we pray he shall do so in
guiding us in all aspects of our lives, being mindful of our short-comings and with such a
contrite spirit forgive those who trespass against us (Matt.6.14) because we are all created of
God and belong to him. By praying for those who despitefully use and abuse us we are
fulfilling the divine law that we should love our brother as ourselves, and should pray that
they may be delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, from the
ways of the devil to the ways of God and in this a blessing will fall upon us as we shall be
moved to be more sincere, kind and understanding in dealing with our fellow man as we are
reminded that we once lived as they did. (Eph.2.2,3) Equally, by praying for such we deny
them the victory over us as we set aside the hurt that, if left to fester, will end up turning into
a grudge and ruin the harmony of our hearts, that we should keep with due diligence,
(Prov.4.23) and if out of harmony then out of fellowship with the Lord, and if we fall out of
fellowship with the Lord then our enemy has gained his point, has damaged us and wounded
us upon the field of battle. God loves the prayers of the upright. (Prov.15.29) May we
always entertain a prayerful spirit and cultivate a prayerful life and in all things commune
with the Lord.

We should never forget that by prayer we should obtain a balance, a righteous balance and in
doing so honour and please our Sovereign. Many that profess to be the servants of Christ
would have all men, everywhere to be prayed for, for their good and not at all for their
condemnation, that the Lord would not visit his judgements upon the heads of the wicked.
This is both wrong and wicked in itself and does not reflect the prayers of the saints, across
time who, on occasions have prayed for judgement upon the wicked, and the Lord has
answered them (Rev.8.4,5). How can any pray for the most heinous of men (Jer.5.26-30) and
women that attack God and his creation, how can we pray for the good of despots and of
child abusers and child murderers, of rapists, muggars, vicious and cruel individuals, of those
who lead souls astray by their continual utterances and attacks upon our Lord?
(Jer.75,69,11,16) There are those who so delight themselves in wickedness, that to see others
brutally hurt and misused is a feast in itself and it is their way of expressing the hatred they
have for God and his creation. They have an insatiable appetite for cruelty. We should side
with the innocent and be the protectors of them, for this is the expression of our religion.
(Jms.1.27). We should continually pray against our adversaries and the adversaries of our
Lord as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Not to stand on the side of righteousness is to stand on
the side of wickedness and side with the Devil. We should pray that if the Lord would not
convert or subdue those whom we call mighty men, “men of renown” (Gen.6.4), mighty in
wickedness and renowned of old for it, that such might be driven from the world, driven from
the face of mankind and from the face of the Lord, that they be cast down into hell. We
should never pray for the sons of Belial, (Deut.13.13;1.Jhn.2.19) never pray for those whom
the Lord has condemned, (Mrk.9.42; Matt.12.31) and certainly not for antichrist, for his good,
that he may prosper in all that he does. Now, that will have all the devils in hell jumping up
and down in their pulpits and pews. Our law proclaims that aiding and abetting is unlawful,
that not to act against an offence is an offence in itself, that not to cry out against the wicked
is to go hand in hand with them. (Ezek.3.18)

As we pray we invoke the presence of Providence to watch over us and that peace and
tranquility be given to our consciences, as indeed it shall if all is cast upon the Lord and he be
accepted as Sovereign, that nothing occurs without his hand having touched it or removed it
and yet without sin, for he can do no wrong. He controls every atom of our lives which we
begin to learn as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth and by experiencing the
hand of the Lord within our lives. At the time of conversion we begin to pray (Acts. 9.11)
from a state of immaturity, according to the level of our understanding, which is engaged in
all our prayers. From thence we grow and mature and form higher and truer perceptions of
things and so our prayers become more formed and framed and deeper, weightier and more
resplendent in the use of scriptural phraseology as it becomes part and parcel of our hearts
and minds as we walk with the Lord by the light of his word. As the Word alters and fashions
our minds and alters and fashions our thinking, so it does our prayers and communion with
our Sovereign, as it makes more and more inroads within us, dispelling the darkness that still
remains even in the best, and as the word takes hold of the mind the greater our
understanding will be to know the mind of the Lord, and the more we come to know the mind
of the Lord the less we shall be welcomed by the world and that of hypocrites in religion
(Matt.15.8) as our spirits will grow stronger and more fundamental and our lives more open
and we shall clash with men, even as light clashes with darkness, as oil will not mix with
water being of two differing composites. As providence orders all things and makes
diversities there will be some amongst the children of men that will see we are sincere, above
all others, and will look to us above their fellows (Matt.15.30) but not out of interest to our
Lord as he is far from their hearts and minds but for their own present interests. There is one
thing we should never do and that is to bring the world into our homes via televisions, game
stations, and all the clutter that the world introduces to entertain and pass the time instead of
reading and seeking God. The things of the world will never lead to sanctified minds and a
sanctified way of life for they detract from God rather than attract.
The Papists have their figurines and statues and the imaginary Mary which they continue to
pray too, not realising that they are practising vanity, (Isa.41.29) that all their images are wind
and confusion and not only an abomination in the sight of the Lord (Jer.7.18,20) but bring
confusion to themselves. (v.19) “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of mens’ hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but
they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet
have they, but they walk not.” (Ps.115.4-7) Such inanimate objects can neither save
themselves nor those who pray to them and yet many resort to them and those that make them
think that there is some life in that which they have made with their hands. (Hab.2.18,19) It is
a superstitious belief that they have, their minds contemplate a mystery which is iniquity,
iniquitous to attribute life and power and divinity to a statue. The idols are truly idle as they
cannot walk from once place to another but are reliant upon living beings to transport them
(1.Sam.5.3) and to clean them as they can neither have a wash nor a bath nor when thirsty go
for a cup of tea. Such defraud dentists, shoe makers, clothiers, revenue men, the butcher the
baker and the candle stick maker, etc. They contribute nothing to society and if their place of
abode were to burn down they would have to be rescued and carried out of the building as
they cannot telephone for help or use a fire extinguisher or run out of the building. If they
cannot save themselves and do for themselves, what can they do for others even as Dagon
could not put up a good fight against the Lord who smote him when he passed by (1.Sam.5.3)
and not just the once did the hand of the Lord smite him, but having struck him the first time,
passed by again and struck him a second time, upon this occasion knocking his head off and
severing his hands, (1.Sam.5.4) and how the Lord must have laughed when doing so. (Ps.2.4)
The idols of the wicked are all vanity and works of errors (Jer.9.15) and those who would
teach others to pray to them do not understand anything and are children of Apollyon.
(2.Pet.2.1) The Roman Catholic church will never give up its idols, (Rev.13.18) neither will
they cast out that son of perdition, that antichrist that sits in St. Peter’s, who claims to be God
Almighty as he takes to himself all the offices of God in Christ. There is no getting away
from the fact that the Pope is Antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition whose number
being six, six, six (Rev.13.18) for this the number of man tripled and in the Pope with have
the trinity of man in the offices of God. The number representing God is eight, eight, eight,
which is the trinity of divinity which resides in The Almighty. Formalists will not understand
this because they are not meant to understand for it has been purposely hidden from their
eyes. The Jews rightly call all such persons that take upon themselves divinity, blasphemers.
(Jhn.10.33)

There are those amongst us who will join with us that true prayer is not that which is made to
idols or to Mary, but to the Lord, alone, and that praying is not about words dropping from
the mouth, but from the heart, but no sooner have they affirmed their beliefs than they fall
directly into formalism and so contradict everything they first said and claimed to believe.
How many souls we find like this, weeds in the garden of the Lord that display no heart, no
feeling toward our great and endearing Sovereign. (Lke.18.11) They have no understanding
of the Lord and no interest in him. They are not connected by the gold cord of union with
Christ and so they abide not in the ways of the Lord, preferring their own ways and loving
their own selves, (Lke.18.11) having no reverence for holy things they just make a pretence
and follow others in practice and in word, like chameleons they blend in. For all their
pretences they go unheard. (Isa.29.13) “WHEREFORE the Lord said, For as much as this
people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed
their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” These
individuals go much further than many within the Church for they do not embrace the false
religions of their day, those minority Arian and Deist and monotheist religions, but they will
join themselves to Christianity, the mainstream religion. If the mainstream religion was
worshipping cats they would be the first to join and offer up prayers to them. They are like all
hypocrites, followers of trends and fashions; what ever is the style today. Their feet resting
upon shifting sand. They like the praise of others. (Matt.6.5) With smug and hypocritical rie
smiles they study to set forth words that they believe to be the act of praying as they have
witnessed others doing the very same thing. They follow and copy us in our walk and if we
become too serious in the things of the Lord many cross over on the other side of the road
and call us narrow-minded and far too zealous. What they really are expressing is that we
follow to closely the way of the Lord, (Isa.9.7) that we should get a life, should calm down.
There comes a day in which they show their true colours. (Job.27.8-10) Many of these boys
are amongst those that express the opinion the we should “Pray in the Spirit”as though we
had to go off to the heavenly corner shop to buy half a pound, then having taken hold of it
pushed it into our mouths and then proceed to bounce around with vain babblings, which they
would tell us is of God, that it is praising the Lord, that we are speaking in tongues, which
leaves us even more mystified for since when did God require his children to speak Chinese,
Cantonese, Japanese, French, German, Polish, etc., as tongues are actual languages
(Deut.10.5; Deut.28.49; Rev.5.9) that first came about in the plains of Shinar when the tower
of Babel was being built and upon the day of God’s visitation he cursed the people so that
they not only spoke different languages but the noise that each heard was pure babble in each
and everyone’s ears. So what are they saying? Is it that they are cursed of God because there
is no audible language heard, only babbling? When the disciples spoke in diverse tongues
(Acts.2.5-12) it was that each and every person could understand what they were preaching,
for there were a multitude of different peoples and nations within Jerusalem at that time and
each and everyone heard the gospel in their own language and it was a further fulfilling of the
old testament prophecies that should be filled in Christ and his sacrifice upon the cross.

Now prayer is the perpetual exercise of faith and comes forth of a sanctified soul. (Lev.10.3)
Prayer to an heir of grace is as natural as breathing and makes up and displays just what they
are and who they are within the kingdom of God. Not to pray would be akin to being silent
all the day long and the children of God can never be that with their Lord as they live and
breathe the atmosphere of their heavenly kingdom and wonder about the One who sits upon
the throne and at times just cannot stop talking, as their thoughts and hearts are so engaged in
the things of God, though there are occasions when things do get a little clouded over and the
billows role, (Ps.42.7) and they feel some dullness in their lives, as though they are not able
to pray aright. They will of course chide themselves before the throne of grace and come to
accept that they are still a praying people, it just feels as though they are not. The children of
Israel speak and pray to the Lord as though he were physically in the room with them, and
this sets them apart from the empty professors who cannot have such closeness who will
never speak of the Lord as their saviour, their sovereign, their intimate friend and companion.

It is the duty of all the saints of God to pray for the prosperity of the kingdom of God, that
God thereby maybe honoured and glorified amongst the sons of men (Matt.6.10) and that the
influence of this kingdom maybe felt in the world and that governments, law makers,
magistrates, judges and all in authority may do well, may act justly and honourably and make
right judgements for the glory of him who has set them in such high positions of authority,
that they may, as his ministers, serve to bring peace and prosperity for the good of all, to do
justice and judgement and to bear down the rod upon the wicked (Rom.13.1-7) and not to be
like those that are accursed of God. ( Eph.6.12) When all that in authority wax and wain in
that which is right and turn aside to that which is wrong, being detrimental to the state of
good order and peace of the nation, then things begin to look bad and we are apt to seek the
mind of the Lord in prayer more earnestly as we would not wish to do anything against the
government of our God as he may have brought this about for our just punishment .(Ps.137.1)
Some, in past times have been given the blessing and the grace and authority to depose rulers,
as God can and does act according to his will and in somethings he wills this and in other
things he wills that. To each individual and circumstance does he make his decrees known to
the minds of the godly and when God has made his mind known the deed shall be
accomplished and it will be shown to be of the Lord and not of man. In all things we should
be careful not to restrict the Lord in our meagre minds as he sometimes bedazzles us, so to
speak, in acting contrary to what we understand and yet he will witness that it is of his doing
and make such things wonderful in our eyes. (Isa.25.1) In praying for those in authority we
should also not be backward, when opportunity avails itself to verbally encourage and remind
them of their duty toward God as their Sovereign and Lord, that in all things they should do
that which is and just before God.

The children of God are Virgins

Yet another title to add to our names is that of virgins, true virgins. (2 Cor.1.2) “For I am
jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” Paul expresses the fact that believers should keep
themselves untainted and undefiled from the things of this world that will corrupt their
consciences and interfere with their purity of spirit and purity of life. Having started out as
virgins he would have them to end that way in order to have them presentable to the Lord
(2.Cor.5.3) and not feel ashamed at his coming, either in the day of visitation or upon the
brink of their departure from this lower world. It is our duty to keep ourselves in the very
state that God has put us in at the time of our being born again into his kingdom. It is not
good enough to put a clean shirt on if we do not take care to keep it clean. If we do not keep it
clean it will become shameful to us and will shame us before others who are singular in
attacking us at every turn. (Rev.3.18) The ungodly are very quick to apprehend our
vulnerability when we have straid from the Lord as we feel it and show it in our manner. At
such times we have to take heed to the word of the Lord and resort to the old ways (Jer.6.16)
and recover ourselves from out of our foolishness, lest we be fools indeed.

The Roman Catholic Church and many other false religions will pontificate upon holiness of
life as being that of celibacy, will persuade the gullible to take vows of chastity, which is
contrary to both nature and the scriptures and comes from the devil himself, (2.Tim.4.3) as
though holiness outside of God was true holiness. Such look to the outward appearance and
refuse to accept the vicarious sacrifice of Christ for they hate and despise him and what he
has done and will not have anything to do with him. Their concern is for an outward show of
piety that is but a show as their hearts are as wicked as ever they were, thoroughly wicked
and so wicked that they exceed those with whom they have to do, for they wilfully do what
they do and cast aside the truth. There are those who are born to be virgins and there are
those who choose to be so, to remain unmarried (Matt.19.12) for they have an overwhelming
interest in the things of the Lord that carries them upward and away from such commitments.
They find upon searching that they are hedged in and surrounded by Divine Providence, and
have not the Divine pathway to marriage opened up to them, even as others who walk the
way of it as easily as one would breathe. Although the choice be of man, (1.Cor.7.32,37) yet
ultimately it is of God and his Providence. This can only apply to the sons of God, and
cannot be dictated to by the world (1.Cor.7.7) that would have all men to marry and look
upon the single state as a strange state, yet as is the way of the world it does not condemn or
think it strange for false religions to practise such things. As a dispensation of grace is not
granted to all to abstain from marriage so it is that those who find the way of marital
providence open to them should take it and follow it, for this is the way of the Lord and it is
best not to strive against Providence lest corruption get the upper hand and passions and lusts
become inflamed (1.Cor.7.9) and trouble the heart and disturb the life, and they find that it is
true that it is not good for man to be alone as there are many temptations put to him in that
state and that there is strength in unity of spirit and of mind, which forms the proper marriage
state that no piece of paper or religious service can bring about.

We must not forget that as there is a narrow road and a straight gate that wise virgins travel
upon, which is the course of their Revealed Religion, (Matt.7.14) that there are equally false
virgins who walk another way and upon another road, that come in numerous shapes and
sizes that perform religious rituals and have a show of godliness but do not have the power
and spirit of it. (2 Tim.3.10) They travel along a parallel road to ours, right next door to our
very own as they are so close to us in an outward profession of The Faith. Now these
individuals would have us to believe that the broad road of destruction that runs parallel to
ours is not the road that they are on but the road that the world is walking in, for they believe
themselves to be in the narrow way of life eternal, even though their walk conforms to the
world. The broad road does not depict world so much, but that of the professors of religion,
of false religion, a religion that allows all types of professors to walk its path, of personal
opinions, of personal ways and of personal thoughts. (Matt.7.13)

True virgins not only walk the narrow way but are called wise virgins (Matt.25.4) for they are
those who hold the lamp of true profession, having had their feet planted upon the narrow
road of Revealed Religion, making them to be of a narrow disposition, being redeemed
without money, (Isa.52.3; Eph.2.8,9) having heard the Law and the Gospel being preached
unto them, even that which is from everlasting. (Rev.14.6) It was by the effectual calling of
God and by his irresistible grace that wise virgins are not foolish virgins, are redeemed and
not sons of perdition, that they had been made wise. (2 Tim.3.15) ”And from a child thou hast
known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus.” The wise are the only souls that are ready to meet their Lord and
their God who should continually seek to make their calling and election sure, that they may
make certain that they are who they say they are and that their professions have not their
origins in this world, that they did not begin with man but with God, that they have not
embraced another Saviour.

It is always worth repeating and reminding ourselves that before any soul can be wise unto
salvation they must first have a meeting with Moses at the foot of the mount that still burns
with fire and blackness of smoke. Once there souls will hang down their heads and their
hands will drop to their sides and they will look upon the broken law with fear and trembling,
knowing that they cannot mend the tablets that are broken beneath their feet, broken due to
their rebellion. They find that they cannot put right what they have done, which sends them
into even deeper despair and despondency and tribulation of heart. They become distrout
beyond all measure and reason. As they stand there they hear a voice crying, “Behold, the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” But because their soul is in such a fit of
despair they cannot understand what is being said to them. The evangelist, for that is what he
is, continues to cry the way of salvation, but they just cannot hear; they have no ears to hear.
Then, all of a sudden they begin to hear as the word spoken to them becomes effectual and
they are drawn by the irresistible grace of God, to the Word, preached, and to its author who
asks them to repent of all that they have done. They find that they have no strength to do the
work of repentance and look to him that has called them for help. As they continue to cry the
Lord continues to be merciful to them as sinners (Ps.34.18) and grants them grace and
strength to repent, and to make it so personal to themselves that they feel that it has come
from within, but know all the time that they are debtors to mercy alone. It is then that God
wipes away all the tears from their eyes (Isa.30.19) and rids them of all their fears and washes
their robes in the blood of the Lamb and are then taken into the house of the Lord, to Mount
Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem and an innumerable company of angels, (Heb.12.22) to
sorrow and sigh and cry no more beneath the mount that burned with fire. It is all of the
Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes and the joy of angels. (Luke.15.7) The Divine
Promise (Isa.30.19) will always be made good to all those who are called to be the sons of
God. The foolish will never understand this as they are foolish and have not the Spirit of
God, the God with whom they have to do.

The children of God are trees

We are informed that the children of God are trees, trees planted in the garden of the Lord.
(Isa.63.1) “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of
joy for morning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called
Trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” All the days
of our lives in which we lived without God in the world, we were nothing, nothing of any true
merit. Here we have conviction turned into conversion, from one state of affairs to another,
no longer to be weighed down by guilt and unhappiness. Having begun a holy work the Lord
follows it through to its conclusion and makes us fit to serve him and him alone, not
ourselves, and for his glory and not our own, which we would have if we had begun the work
ourselves. This is all of the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. It was not man and
could never be man that can have himself planted in the garden of God, indeed, natural man
cannot see the garden to plant himself in it as he is blind, spiritual blind.

In the work of the Lord we are uprooted from a barren land and transported and transplanted
into another, more flourishing heavenly land and into communion with the Lord. (Ps.52.8)
“But I am a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and
ever.” We are also likened unto Lign aloes and cedar trees (Numb.24.6) whose branches
should not only smell fragrant but should grow to shade the earth beneath us, should prove
beneficial to the earth that we inhabit, that many should gain shelter from our outstretched
arms of compassion, instruction, charitable exploits, etc. It must always, in this day and age
be repeated, over an over again that Godless man cannot plant himself in the garden of the
Lord. Only the Lord can do such a thing, even as he planted Adam in the garden of Eden,
having created him outside of it. A divine supernatural Act of God has to occur in order that
a man may change from what he is to what he should be. Man might as well spit at the sun
than to effect such a change in his circumstances before his Maker. Man can neither change
himself nor see the need for such a change; he cannot do the work of God or assist in any way
to bring forth the desired change in his life or to bring forth fruit that is pleasing to God. All
man’s efforts, his works, are as dung and filthy rags righteous and holy God.
As trees we find ourselves blessed. (Ps.1.1) “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
council of the ungodly, not standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful.” All positive attributes of the sons of God. He is blessed because he is not inclined
to venture the way of the wicked, neither does he desire their ways as he is led by a different
spirit and motivated by different principles. And because he holds fast in not following the
principles and precepts of the wicked, and refuses to be enticed by them and therefore he
shall bring forth much fruit. (v.3) “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper.” These rivers make us happy. (Ps.46.4) “There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.”
Our seed shall be found in many waters as we are an elect stock, the seed of righteousness
(Gen.3.15) which Christ loves with an everlasting love, worlds without end. (Jhn.13.1) Christ
continues to pray and make intercession for to his Father, which he does not do for all men
(Jhn.17.9) and he would have all not to be saved. Christ was no Universalist in his teaching.
There is a definite and precise people, given to Christ, of the living God for the work of
salvation is only extended to those for whom the Father had an eye too, and no others. This
we called Limited Atonement, and unlike Ahaziah (2.Chron.22) the children of God take heed
to good council and to the good things that their Lord has provided in order that they may
become strong and eventually mature. (v.2) “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in
his law doth he meditate day and night.” Such will not be for bending this way and that in
order to accommodate the world, they know themselves to be far above all earthly things and
resign themselves not to follow the wicked, as they are royal trees in the garden of the most
High. Kingly trees, prosperous trees, fruit bearing trees.

As trees of righteousness we bare much fruit, according to the grace and council of God, for
as God has fashioned us so he makes us to prosper. (Mrk.4.20) “And these are they which are
sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty-
fold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” Trees are always known by the fruit that they bare
and it is not good that any person professing to know the Lord is seen to be barren for such
are not of the Lord’s planting, but man’s. It is equally true that those who claim to be of the
Lord’s planting yet propagate error will, by this, openly declare that they are trees that have
been planted by the Adversary as they do not all in line with that which makes for good trees,
for the trees of the Lord are wholesome trees, honest and their fruit right fruit. Many
professors of religion only have a name to live by but are dead, dead in trespasses and sins,
living lives as unregenerate, fruitless, barren trees; notional professors whose teachings and
beliefs are wrotten to the core. (Matt.12.33) “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or
else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” Wicked
professors of religion are trees, that is true, but not after the fashion of trees of righteousness,
as they are unwashed, unrighteous and unholy, have never had an audience with Moses. They
make a fair outward show but inwardly they have no sap of the Lord, the life that should
proceed from the Lord by being united to him. For all their show they cannot alter a thing.
“Dead thou art, and dead thou shalt remain. Thou art only fit for the fire.”

We come once more to the river of waters as they are most important to the life of trees and
healthy springs make for healthy believers, even rivers of righteousness. As trees of
righteousness we always share in a constant supply of pure holy water that comes down from
the high places within the kingdom of God. (Isa.41.18) “I will open rivers in high places, and
fountains in the midst of the valleys: for I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the
dry land springs of water.” Our roots could not find sustenance in the former land. Now our
Lord has not only brought us into his kingdom but has given us an abundance of life and
refreshment for our souls even down to springs of living waters. (Jhn.7.38) “He that believeth
on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” As
believers are refreshed so they refresh each other and those they come into contact with in the
world, the world is also blessed by their presence as life issues forth from them in contrast to
death that proceeds from the children of men, who cannot impart life, a lively spirit that
blesses all around them. There are also to be found wells for us to drink from. (Isa.12.3)
“Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” There is no scarcity of
the Spirit of God to draw from and with joy we draw from the supplies that come by our
being united to the head of the fountain of life, even Jesus Christ as he is the tree that is said
to be cast into the waters, (Exod.15.25), that healed us when we were sick with sin. (v.26)
Christ is the living water that issues from our heavenly city (Zech.14.8) which shall neither
dry up in summer nor be frozen over in winter as natural water courses have a tendency to do,
for they shall go forth “in summer and in winter.” Nominal, notional professors know
nothing of the joys of the Spirit and the source of our joy as we partake of the fulness that is
in Christ Jesus. They can only stand and stare.

As death proceeds from the dead, so life proceeds from the living. As the righteous have pure
rivers of delight and fountains of joy so it is within the kingdom of darkness that the wicked
have rivers and fountains and waters, but instead of being pleasing to some souls they are
unwholesome and polluted, by which many are said to die through bitterness, bitterness of
soul. As poison is a cruel thing to the stomach of a man so are those sources that some turn to
for sustenance. (Rev.8.10,11) “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from
heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the
fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the
waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made
bitter.” False hope is given to many as to the way of life and to the understanding of it as in
the case of human philosophy with its false prophets and their teachings. Some will suffer at
the hand of formalism, false religion that also appears as a lamp to their feet, to lighten their
way in life, but the end is so very bitter when they come to realise that they have spent their
time following a false light, a lamp of profession that was far from the true light of the world.
Such will become so bitter that it will be impossible to reason with them as they are eaten up
with so much grief and torment.

They that are the true sons of God know what it is to kiss the Son of Righteousness as trees of
righteousness, to sit in awe and wonder and admiration and love toward someone whom they
have never met, in the flesh, that someone whom they know, as an absolute Saviour of their
souls. They shall yet see him, one day, face to face and fall in love all over again. If love
towards God is so intense at first setting out, what shall it be like when we meet him face to
face? Here we have it, Love, all compelling love. False professors have no overwhelming
love for Christ as he is not their Saviour but their enemy, and there is no joy in either their
hearts or in their eyes. They do not see what we see and are given to bend this way and that in
the forest of the Lord, whilst the trees of righteous refuse to bend to this and that wind of
doctrine and are scorned for not doing so by so many that inhabit the same ground.

Trees are very good things, stout and true and their influence branches out over all that they
surround, and unlike common trees, which we are not, we stand the test of time. The wind of
false doctrine may blow this way and that, and be very strong at times and we unable to
answer its end, so to speak, and yet we still stand firmly rooted and grounded in the soil that
the Lord has prepared for us to grow in, unshakeable yet shaken amidst the trials and
discomforts of this world, of all that the world may throw at us. (2.Cor.11.24-28) The work of
God is a sure work. We are well planted in another world in which evil is not capable of
entering, and so we cannot be uprooted. How can it be that any devil from this world can
enter ours and uproot the good stock that we are? Can we uproot the children of the devil
from out of their ground and kingdom? One might as well say that the Pope is a good man,
for this to happen. Left to our own nature we would be wrotten trees, only fit for the holy
pyre of God’s wrath that knows no mercy.
Some trees in the garden are stronger, more fruitful than others, this has and will always be
the case, but the Lord loves everyone of them equally. Sometimes the evil of the old man will
rise up and cause us to be jealous and envious at a brother or sister (that is, if we let him take
the throne) prospering more in the things of the Lord than ourselves. When passion is on the
throne reason flies out of the window and all our furniture is gone and we stand in an empty
room. The more we endeavour to apply ourselves in the things that make for a holy and
spiritual life the better we are to serve the Lord. As trees we start out as saplings and require
nurturing until such times as we begin to feel more rooted in the soil of this new world, the
new land we have been brought to. There is, after all, so much to see and understand, and as
we begin to mature we begin to grow in the Lord and to know more of the solidness and
firmness of the ground that we are planted in and then we become aware that come hell or
high water nothing, but nothing can remove us from the soil that we are planted in; it is like a
rock and an anchor for our souls. We so often are prone to rush into things and rush to grow
in the knowledge of the Lord, which in the latter can be justified by the love and passion we
begin with when we first start out for the Lord, as new born but this time will temper the
spirit and make for a soundness that is missing at first setting out. Sometimes we desire to run
before we can walk.

The children of God are saints

As there have always been the children of God, from the beginning of the day of grace
(Gen.3.15) in which we witness two peoples and so two kingdoms being separated and the
vicarious sacrifice promised that should transport the elect from that of Satan’s kingdom to
that of God’s kingdom, the kingdom of grace, so there have always been saints. (Ps.52.9) “I
will praise thee for ever, because thou haste done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is
good before thy saints.” King David was a saint but prefers to mention others before himself;
it is also a reference to Christ giving eternal praise to his father for the work that he has done.
In the eternal plan of things all the elect are seen as saints that come together as one people in
the hand of the Lord. (Deut.33.3) “Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and
they sat down at thy feet; everyone shall receive of thy words.” Collectively all the saints sit
at Christ’s feet receiving divine words from the mouth that speaks kindness to their hearts, as
they are a united people, united by one faith and one sacrifice and one work of Christ and the
Holy Ghost. It is a good thing to sit at the feet of Christ and to receive his words, as his words
are pure and are life-giving. It is a hideous thing, however, to sit at the feet of the world, to
listen to what it has to say. How empty and barren are the passing words uttered by devils
and men alike. Christ, not the world, is the way, the truth and the life of any soul who wishes
to walk a blessed way amongst a den of thieves and venomous snakes that is representative of
every generation of this wicked, perfidious world.

The term Saint refers to the fact that the sons of God are holy and upright in their true self,
not that of the body, as that is corrupt and woeful, (that has yet to be changed. 1Cor.15.53)
but of the persons they truly are and that this is so by divine indulgence, so to speak, in
preferring them above all others, to do the work of sanctification as part and parcel of their
salvation that marks them all out to be holy and just before a holy and just God. The Lord
provided a fiery law to this effect, to this end, that souls should, by divine mercy, flee to him
for salvation. A fiery law for all his saints. (Deut.33.2) “And he said, The LORD came from
Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them: he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with
ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.”

There are some who believe that we are not fully sanctified in Christ and so we cannot lay
claim to be genuine saints, only believers. Paul knows nothing of this as we have seen
previously. Those that teach that we are not fully sanctified are doing the devil’s dirty work
for him. Some know what they are doing as they were, of old, ordained to this wicked
teaching, whilst others have been ensnared into it, not realising the effect it has upon the
Christian faith. If we are not fully sanctified then we have no hope, no joy and no salvation in
the Lord, and as such, Christ never came to die for us. Ask the thief on the cross if he was or
was not fully sanctified when the Holy Ghost wrought in him a work of God. It also follows
that the fundamentals of the Christian faith are not to be believed and are to be cast out as
belonging to some imposter that has crept in like a thief in the night, whilst we were sleeping.

We know not to believe the Roman Catholic Church when it teaches that we cannot be fully
sanctified as it goes about venerating dead bodies and making them to be saints that were no
saints. Many will acknowledge Rome to be wrong on this point and many other points and
yet teach a form of sanctification that undermines The Faith and call their teaching “the
second blessing,” that sanctification comes after being born again, that is it to be acquired by
applying oneself to calling upon God for it, and so none that are born again are to be called
saints. Some will confess to have experienced a second blessing after conversion but what
they experienced is open to debate as it does not form part and parcel of the doctrine of the
Christian faith. We are very, very prone to go the way of feelings and to misinterpret what we
feel without any doctrinal proof to back up what we have experienced, though some would,
after the second blessing, twist scripture to fit their experiences. If this is the outcome of this
work then we had best leave it alone for truth is better than error. Feelings are made to be the
touch stone of truth instead of scripture and made to overshadow holy writ as though we
should look to what this or that person has gone through rather than what saith the Lord.

Laying aside these unprofitable people we find that as saints we shall never be lost or cast
away from the Lord, for all eternity, though he may be displeased with us from time to time
as we are safe for he preserves us. (Ps.97.10) “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he
preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” God is
not partial, as we may find ourselves to be. God treats us all alike and loves each one of us,
individually, with everlasting love, as we form, collectively, his Church and are made to be
his Bride. If Christ speaks to our souls that we are his saints and that he it is that shall
preserve us to the end we trust to his words and set aside those of man, as man is not to be
trusted. It is a strange thing that so many that are made to be saints by the hands of men are
generally the worst of all humanity and many as twisted as twisted can be. When a person is
made a saint for baptising donkeys and goats and the like, preparing them for heaven one
wonders how much altar wine has been drunk, but then “the heart of fools proclaimeth
foolishness.” (Prov.12.23)

As saints we are precious to the Lord in life as we are in death. (Ps.116.15) “Precious in the
sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” We share this love that knows no bounds, as we
are precious in his sight so he is precious in ours, and because of this endearing love between
us we do not love this life but love death instead. (2 Cor.5.8) “We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” Also (Rev.12.11).
“And they overcame him with the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony; and
they loved not their lives unto death.” Our foes cannot hold it out against the blood and the
testimony of the Lord, the blood we are washed in and the testimony that we bare, that we are
saints and not sinners, that we follow a different path than they, that our God is the one true
God. As the sinner fears death and its consequences, that ultimate place of blackness and
darkness and torment, for ever, so we face it, not with trepidation, but with anticipation that
we shall see that smiling face and feel that warm embrace, that even now comforts us here
below, (Jhn.14.16) but then face to face. If we are conscious when we were born again of all
things becoming new and old things passing away how much more so when we enter upon
the Cohent freedom of our heavenly home, when all of this life shall be forgotten, all that has
ever occurred shall never be brought to mind; it shall be as though it never happened and if
we have ungodly relations that brake our hearts at the present time, because we desire them to
be saved, they too shall be forgotten. The only thing we shall be aware of is that we are a
precious people in the paradise of God, enjoying his presence, worlds without end, and we
shall be so overwhelmed in that day that that day shall be our eternity. Christ shall destroy all
things at the presence of his coming and put an end to it all. (2 Pet.3.10). Praise be to God!

It is heartening to think in all this that as saints our lives are but a vapour, a cloud that passes
in the night, that all is over bar the shouting and we are but passengers in the waiting room of
time, waiting to climb aboard that carriage that is on its way to pick us up and to carry us
home, were we belong. Although we have only seen the driver from a distance yet we trust to
him that he will safety take us home, all in one piece and when we shall arrive at our journeys
end then we shall climb down from our carriage to meet the Lord of that far land, that we
have looked into with the eye of faith and he shall come and greet us and put his loving arms
around us as sons and daughters and not as strangers, as those that have been in a foreign land
for what appears to us to have been forever. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. When we
least expect it our carriage shall arrive to whisk us homeward and we shall never leave the
land of our fathers to return to the world.

The children of God are merciful

It is only the children of God who can account themselves blessed above all others in the
world, in the world of providence, and with such a heart desire that their fellow man may
have what they have. They desire to see their fellow man come to Christ even as they
themselves have done. (Rom.9.2,3) “That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my
heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen
according to the flesh.” This is the true heart of a believer, a compassionate Christian. Who,
being born of the Spirit could ever wish anything else for his fellow man? There are those
whom we accept are plainly evil, and that continuously so, who do not deserve our
compassion, those who fill up the cup of God’s wrath, as did the Jews (1 Thess.2.16) on a
daily basis. There are those who trample under foot and despise all that is holy and resist the
Spirit of God, and attack their fellow man in such a way that even his fellows abhor him
(Prov.24.24) as he makes himself a beacon of wickedness in the house of his master. Rapists,
child abusers, murderers, tyrants and despots of one type or another who embrace darkness as
if they were embracing a long-lost brother, with open arms. They willingly go the way of
darkness unlike some who follow the spirit of this world, ignorantly. (1.Tim.1.13) The tares
amongst us will have us believe that these and others, and notable names such as Myra
Hindley, Ian Brady, Jack the Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, Adolph Hitler, Poll Pot, the Facist
Benito Mussolini, Josepth Stalin, Carl Marx, the Popes, etc., were all “loved of Jesus”. The
sins of so many tares go before them even as some in this world do, and go to show us who
they really are beneath the cloak of their hypocrisy that they love to wear. (1.Tim.5.24)
“Some mens’ sins are open beforehand, going before to judgement; and some men they
follow after.”

The command is to love our neighbour as ourselves (Lke.10.27 “And he answered and said,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”) should be superfluous to any
person professing to be of the Spirit of God as it is one of the many fruits that he displays as
being part of his person and character. To love our neighbour is to care for them and to
concern ourselves in their lives as their needs come before us, requiring compassion and
understanding, which they rarely gain and receive from their kingdom. They need good
instruction and wisdom from us, as we should be their lights within this providential world of
darkness, as lights on a hill. (Matt.5.14) We should be as light houses to lost souls in the sea
of their own destruction. Compassion for souls should naturally flow from us as life itself
flows from our being and warms those around us. To love our neighbour as ourselves is to
feel the wrongs done to them as if they were done to us, and to be angry with those who do
such wrongs to them. If we hide our faces from those that have been wronged, we not only
doubly wrong them, for we wrong them in giving no aid and assistance but we wrong both
ourselves and God as he would have mercy shown. To hide our faces is to be in opposition to
the very Spirit we are of. The best way not to see is to continue to turn away from the light of
humanity and to the darkness of another world. We should never turn away from light unless
we wish to go the way of darkness. We side with the Devil if we do nothing on behalf of
those who sincerely need our assistance and ask our for our help. Omissions are equally as
accountable as commissions in the law of the Lord.

Compassion should flow out of every paw, even as our Lord has compassion. (Matt.9.36)
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they
fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” He would heal the sick.
(Matt.4.24) “And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick
people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed
with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed
them.” Those who were hungry he fed and gave rest too (Matt.15.34-38) and to this day the
Lord provides for the mass of humanity by common grace, within the kingdom of
providence, as we term the natural world. (Lke.6.35) By his Spirit the providential workings,
within the world, are viewed as being wheels within wheels. (Ezek.1.16,20,21) This term has
entered into the realms of the ungodly to describe the invisible dealings that go on behind the
scenes, those things that we are not aware of and yet take place. It is the Lord that orders all
things for his glory and to man’s own benefit. It is fare to admit that without the Lord Jesus
Christ ruling both the world of saints and that of sinners we would all be under the terrors of
the devil and have nothing but unfathomable darkness in the world and every man would be
seen for what he is, a devil in disguise and a fiend to one another. It has rightly been said that
if there were no devil man would make one. Now, There would be no charitable people, no
concerned and respectful individuals; (Ps.101.6) there would be no common good, though
measured by the rule of divine law such good falls short and is weighed in the balances and
found wanting, that no man can be justified by the law.
Some will claim and preach that common mercy does not exist, that God has forsaken the
earth, that Christ has yet to reign, that take council of themselves. (Isa.30.1) Thanks be to
God that we are not left to our thoughts of how things are for left to ourselves we too would
be atheistic but we have the Holy Ghost that witnesses far better things who will never deny
that God rules and orders all things and that God in Christ reigns over all. The Holy Ghost
would never disparage the Lord after such a fashion and join in with the world, the flesh and
the devil in robbing Christ of his divinity and rightful place upon the throne of judgement and
justice. Christ reigns from shore to shore, till sun and moon shall wax and wain no more. It is
pointless of man to decry our Lord’s reign as he cannot take it away, the only thing he knows
he can do is to try and take the thoughts of it away from us and to dethrone Christ in our
hearts and within the natural world and by leaving out common grace man is left to fend for
himself. There are wicked individuals who will never rest until they take away Christ’s rule
out of our hearts for they know that if they can persuade us to think of Christ as a Saviour
only, and not as Lord of all, they win a point for their side and are proud of the fact and the
more they win over, to their side, the minds and hearts of believers the greater they become as
they see the ranks of the righteous leaving the field as they deem there is no Lord to fight for,
no King, that their Sovereign is impotent and subject to this lower sphere and does not care
for man and that when troubles arise it is nature, not God. They know that the natural mind is
atheistical and so they play upon this as they cannot influence our hearts and our souls. The
devil’s children are sly for, after all, if they can get souls to dethrone Christ there is only one
being that can take his place for a vacuum is always filled, and guess who then rises up in the
minds of the unregenerate and mad professors. Apollyon with his entourage.

By common grace we have the Lord showing mercy to his creatures, though many are
thoughtless as to his generosity. (Matt.5.45) “That ye maybe the children of your Father
which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain
on the just and on the unjust.” The Lord does not just sit back and let nature takes its course,
far from it for nature itself is controlled by the Lord. In every aspect of life Christ is there
upholding and giving blessings to ungrateful man. Man could not feed himself if it was not
for the Lord. (Ps.104.14) “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service
of man: that he may bring food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man,
and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.” Who gives us
snow and ice? Nature or the Lord God Omnipotent? (Ps.147.16,17) “He giveth snow like
wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can
stand before is cold?” He sends out his word and all this is melted. (v18) “He sendeth out his
word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters to flow.” The Lord Jesus
Christ is active, not passive in his creation. He puts the birds to bed at night and tucks them
in, after feeding them, (Lke.12.29,30) and in return they sing his praises and are thankful. All
that man and nature requires is given to them by the Lord and is sustained by him as he sits
upon the throne, the very throne given to him of his father. (Ps.8.5-9; Heb.2.7-10; 1Pet.3.22;
Eph.1.20,21; Ps.2.1-12, ect.) All things are subject to Christ and are answerable to him, even
evil is answerable and is restrained by him (Rev.20.2) that it does not over flow and overtake
man, that the whole of creation does not come tumbling down. In death the wicked bow
down to him (Ps.22.29) and acknowledge his sovereignty, not to salvation but as creatures
before their Creator. In their fight against the Lord the wicked acknowledge his rule over
them, though feckless hypocrites in religion will never accept of this as it is a matter beyond
their comprehension as even as all spiritual things are.

The earth and all that is in it belongs to Christ (Ps.24.1) and blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord Jesus Christ (Ps.33.12) for none other can prosper a people like the Lord
(Deut.28.1-14) and none other can punish quite like him as he has many weapons in his
arsenal, at his disposal, from the elements that he has formed and sustains to that of the fallen
spirits that he holds in chains, restrains by divine authority, his authority, to things seen and
things unseen. His judgements will be felt when he is stirred up, but a little, and comes to
visit man and rewards him according to his works. These special judgements are called days
of visitation, (Isa.10.3) they come when the Lord begins to take stock of his goods and what
man has done with them, rewarding each and everyone according to his or her work. Both
personal sins and national sins are punished by the Lord. (Isa.26.20,21; 8.21,22; Rev.8.7, etc.)
Not only are there days of visitation but judgement comes forth on a daily basis (Zeph.3.5).
On a daily basis the heathen plan this and that, but all too often their plans come to nothing as
the Lord frustrates their plans. (Ps.33.10) The Lord is the great disposer of all things.
(Prov.16.32) Nature is not the cause of upheavals and woes (Ps.107.25,26) but the rod in the
hand of our Lord, even the harsh word that comes from his mouth (Rev.2.27) is but a rod that
calls forth heaven and the earth to rise up against man to punish him for his iniquities that
have reached up unto heaven and up to his throne and what is the response of atheistic man,
of the present evil age, but to blame himself and to make himself God, that he has misused
the things of the world and now they are turning upon him and if he would just do this and
that he can make things all well again and that it is man that is in charge both of himself and
his destiny, that if there is a God he no longer reigns and that the most important issue is the
salvation of the world and not that of the soul. Man will worship and honour the world before
he will worship and honour God.

There shall come a time when the Lord shall have done striving with such, and the daily
benefits that he acquires from the Lord shall come to and end, man shall no longer be
provided for. (Gen.6.3) “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for
that he also is flesh: ...”The Mediate strivings of God’s Spirit will have an end when he
decides to put a stop to all things here below. We must always be mindful that if the Lord
suspended the laws that he has put in place they would be suspended. We take for granted
that the sun rises and falls and yet if the Lord were to say “Halt,” it would halt (Job.9.7) and
on occasions alter its course. (2 Kings.20.11) If man is punished with great punishment it is
the rod that strikes him and not nature, (Jer.27.8) as he would have it to be. He would separate
God from his creation as only an atheist can.

Not only does the Lord provide for all man’s external needs but lightens his understanding,
that although he inhabits a world of darkness there is a spark of light, so to speak, to illumine
his conscience. (John.1.9) “That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world.” The law of God is also written in his heart that comes together with the light of
their consciences. (Rom.2.15) “Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or excusing one
another.” Such is the common grace of God toward man and some take advantage of what
they are given and seek to perform that which they see to be right whilst others despise what
they have and go and bury it, and make nothing of it, but throw away all that they have and
like Dr Foustas, sell their souls to the devil. They will avowedly have nothing of God.
Thankfully there are some good individuals in this providential world that have more concern
for others than most and do a great deal of charitable work and seek to uphold that which is
right and honest and truthful and put to shame those Millenialists that say the world should
rot because the Lord shall sort all things out when he returns. There are of course those in the
world that turn out to be disasters and disturbers of the peace. Those who are beasts we
should avoid and take more care of those who are not so violently opposed to God. (Matt.7.6)
“GIVE not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” Holy things should be
treated with reverence and not cast before dogs and swine. We should not allow sacrilege to
take place as we are the Lord’s messengers and sovereigns of our own sphere. The violent
and self-possed are condemned already and know in their hearts that this is the case and
hence their violence when God is spoken of and such violence that would set the world
ablaze. There are times, within their lives that their consciences become aware that the Lord
rules and is very angry with them (Rev.6.16) but this lasts but for a moment though the
impression of it is everlasting and turns many to outwardly vent their anger upon society in
general and individuals in particular, and like their father they will go to and fro throughout
the earth venting their spleen, many penning works opposed to the belief of a Creator. Many
of the heathen will recognise and avoid those that are openly nasty, wicked and evil for even
they are aware that all such are not to be associated with. There are those, however, that are
sly and manage to hide what they are only to be found out at a given time, in history, and for
the world to say “I did not know he was like that!” “We thought him to be a good man.”
Adolph Hitler, before he took up arms was nationally referred to as The blue eyed wonder of
German.”

If we are true to our calling and have made our election sure (2.Pet.1.10) then we shall not be
deceivers, we shall shun the very thought of deceit specially when it comes to dealing the
Word of God and our fellow man. Fallen man does not only deserve compassion and
understanding but to be taught wisdom and understanding, to live peaceably, and if it be the
Lord’s will to be saved, to be transported from his unhappy state to a joyous state that he
could never have dreamt of, for this is our duty toward him and towards God. Our prayers
and efforts will always be that the Lord shall save those whom our lives have touched, that a
word or a motion may be the instrument in the providential hand of the Lord to stir souls and
to make them genuine believers. Our desire is always to do that which is right, and in this lies
our true Spirit, (1Thess.5.14) as it is not done for our praise or glory, but out of concern,
genuine concern which the world knows nothing of as when it shows concern their concern is
mixed with sin, the sin of pride and self, and so all is then lost and is not done in a proper
manner and in a proper spirit. The Christian seeks nothing in return and that which they do
they do with no eye to any, not even to their Lord. They simply do what they do because they
are what they are, and they can do no other.

It grieves the hearts of believers to see souls lost and unhappy, without life and without hope
in the world. It is equally grieves righteous souls to see their fellow man being imposed upon
to follow this and that religion instead of Christ and Revealed Religion, that so many souls
are led astray into devil worship, man worship, will worship, trends and fashions and things
of this world that claim to provide peace and comfort for empty tormented souls, whose
journey to hell has already begun, in spirit. (Matt.8.12; Acts.7.54) The natural man is born
unto trouble (Rev.9.12) as the sparks fly upward (Job.5.7) and his conscience is aware of his
own unhappiness and nakedness and try as hard as he may he cannot rid himself of these
deep seated feelings. All that should have made for his happiness and prosperity in the world
was consumed in the great fire, the fiery judgement of God upon the occasion of the Fall. If
Adam had not sinned all would have carried on as before. That which was once a bountiful
and beautiful paradise on earth, for man’s soul to feast upon, was turned into a wilderness.
Fallen man has no longer green pastures and still waters to delight his soul in. Sin has robbed
him of all that should make for his welfare, it has taken from him a sound clear conscience,
and destroyed his fellowship with his Creator. Equally the devil is not satisfied with plunging
man into sin but will torment him in various ways, will not give him rest as it is not in his
nature to give any soul rest, after all if he is not at rest why should anyone else be so? His
ministers delight in afflicting harm and great distress and punishment upon souls and will
appears, on occasions like scorpions, (Rev.9.4) to make their lives most miserable, at times,
and such is the torment that they inflict that they wish themselves not to have been born into
the world, that they could get out of it, but death always alludes them. (v.6) Weary of living
and tired of life they walk on through the wilderness becoming fair prey to evil spirits that
would make merchandise of them. (Rev.9.7-10) Wickedness always puts on fair cloths,
comes dressed to kill, comes to man under a fair show of beauty, an attractive disguise and
enters with great persuasiveness, a force greater than his own (v.9) that catches his him off
guard and unawares. Before he knows it he has been overcome by force of words and
actions, and though they come from man, (Rev.9.7; Ezek.2.6) behind them is the devil.
(James.3.15) Man will find himself having been imposed upon and feeling gullible and what
should have been to his benefit he now finds it is to his hurt, that there is a sting in the tail.
That these devils, as he now would own them, appeared kind and considerate, but now he
sees that they were as hard as nails, and the front they put on was false, was harder than iron
itself, impenetrable. They come in their season and at a time appointed of their lord and
master. If it were not for common grace and common mercy the souls of dead, unregenerate
spirits, would be tormented beyond anything that they could ever bare. And we sincerely pity
them in their state.

Because we have fallen into fashioning ourselves and accommodating ourselves to the world
we have become ineffectual, impotent, not a force to be reckoned with in society. We have
been beguiled by false brethren that have crept in unawares (2.Cor.12.26) and have proceeded
to steal from us the glory and the efficacy that is ours by birth-right. Our lights are not
burning as bright as they should and none see the difference between us and themselves. We
are asleep, alongside the foolish. (Matt.25.5) “And while the bridegroom tarried, they all
slumbered and slept.” The world is an ever increasing place of darkness, violence and
wickedness, in so many places and man spins around as to what is right and that which is
wrong and we have aided and caused this to happen, this unhappy state of affairs by not being
the salt of the earth and the lights that we should be, with the exception of a few true soldiers
of Christ who battle on regardless of those around them, who look upon them not only as odd
bods but to be avoided and shunned, at all cost, as they are the disturbers of the peace and of
the tranquility of ‘religious faith’, who do not bring ‘Christ’s message of universal love’, but
of hatred, their master being the first of this kind. (Matt.10.34)

We have become, on the whole, of no benefit to our fellow man whom we should care for,
and abomination to heaven, ready to be spewed out of the mouth of the Lord, (Rev.3.16)
hell’s laughter and the world’s derision. We should show that we are different. (1.Pet.2.9)
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye
should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light.” And our walk through this world should be a witness that the Lord liveth and reigneth.
(1.Pet.2.12) “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak
against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God
in the day of visitation.” This is our witness for Christ, not as the tares witness for their
Christ, as they have the talk but not the life whereas we have both. The tares feel that they
must ‘witness for Christ’ unlike ourselves who should be perpetual witnesses, Epistles of the
Lord our God by both our conduct and words. Our lives and words should speak of Christ
and if our words follow our conduct they make us true to what we are, and not hypocrites as
many are.

Compassion and concern is not restricted to the fallen world but is extended, by the nature of
the Spirit within us to our fellow believers in Christ. (Phil.4.10) Whilst we rebuke the false
professors amongst us and some around us, informing them that they need to be born again in
order that they may not only see the kingdom of God but be a part of it in this life and that
which is to come, as it has no beginning or end, being eternal, (2.Pet.1.11) there are those
whom we witness as having gone into by path meadows and have been caught out and led
astray by various means. (Gal.6.1) “BRETHREN, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which
are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also
be tempted.” Those that are more spiritual than others are generally the best persons to draw
wayward souls back to the path that they were once travelling upon, as they understand that if
the Devil can brazenly twist and misquote scripture before the face of the author of it, to paint
a false picture of things, (Matt.4.6) then they, and all of us are seriously in peril of being
drawn away after falsehood as we are lesser beings. Only pride clouds our view and hides
the fact that we are always open to corruption, it prevents us being on our guard when smiling
faces, whom we call personalities, put forth their error. Sometimes harsh, firm words of
exhortation are needed in order to bring about a change, that a soul having wandered may be
brought, suddenly to realise the perils that they are in. Meekness generally wins the day as it
is sincerity that draws a soul back to reality. The rod is the last resort. (1.Cor.4.21) “What will
ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?” The Lord
speaks to the world with a rod. (Rev.2.27) As previously mentioned when the Lord uses the
rod upon us it works in us a better condition than it does in the world, as it comes to us out of
love not out of hatred. (Heb.12.6) “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth.” Those that have never received the rod of Christ, and have
never been scourged for their sins and waywardness are no sons of his, they are illegitimate,
sons of Satan, foolish virgins. There is so much within us that needs correcting and
sometimes we feel the rod and the scourging breaking in on us and sometimes are
confounded as to what is happening and we cannot account for that which is taking place
within our lives. The punishment has a salutary effect upon us, is healthy and beneficial,
making for a more mature spirit and character that we did not start out with. We are lively but
rough stones (1.pet.2.5) whose edges need smoothing. Throughout scripture we read of the
exhortation of fellow Christians toward one another, (Heb.10.24) to be better than they are
and to avoid going the way of the world, that they are not of the world, yet must live in it, that
they should turn their backs upon all that is unholy, never to follow the fashion of a fallen,
unrighteous age in both speech and in dress. How many do we witness sitting amongst us and
in our pulpits whose dress and language would shame every beggar in England. By this they
do not give any evidence that they are walking with the Lord, that they have a single eye to
please the Lord whom they make much of. All such make no show of true Revealed Religion
in their hearts and hence they do what they do because they lack the natural fear and
reverence and love of the Lord whom they claim to own so dearly. The respectful and the
responsible within the world would never dress and talk so badly as these do, when they are
within their offices, working in the presence of their employer, seeking to be approved in all
that they do and say. On the other hand we have the dandies who dress to impress, to be seen
of men. Both parties know nothing of dressing soberly with a single eye to pleasing the Lord.
They only have one eye to please themselves.

The world is full of hatred, one for another; even the best of men have ill-will towards their
fellows. (Rom.1.29,30) It is in their very nature to hate one another. It is out of the heart, the
deceitful heart that this comes. (Matt.15.19) “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornication's, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” This is not the case with
the righteous and sanctified of the Lord as they are of the same spirit as one another. Fallen
mankind is perpetually in a state of war with itself, having first picked up arms against its
Creator he then turns to all that his Creator has made. Man hates one another according to the
spirit he is of, which spirit rises out of the pit. In contrast the heavenly spirit is that of
universal love, that proceeds from the throne of God and of our Lord. (1John.3.10) “In this
the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” It matters not to us from
which part of the world our brethren are from as to us they are as we are, of one Spirit. Our
tongues and traditions may be different one from another and yet we find mutual ground in
the things of God as we breathe the same atmosphere of heaven and delight in walking in the
Paradise of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, knowing that what we view is ours and shall
be ours for ever more. The very same Spirit that brings us together and binds us in Christ
gives us to see the very same things that pertain to our eternal happiness as we walk through
this green and pleasant land, partaking freely of the pure river of life (Rev.22.1) and that of
the tree of life (v.2) which not only sustains but whose leaves heal the souls of the elect when
they come forth to newness of life as this tree is descriptive of Christ our great physician,
within the confines of the heavenly Jerusalem, the curse of our lives being ended (v.3) and we
each bare his name, acknowledge him in our thoughts, (v.4) each and every waking moment
of the day and whereas sin once hid his face we now behold him as he beholds us, and there
is no more perpetual darkness of the soul within our city, (v.5) and we all feel safe in the Lord
and in the knowledge that in our kingdom and city all are righteous. (v.15) There are times in
which the saints of God may fall out with one another, as is natural, but such things do not
take away the Spirit of love, as equally the world cannot remove its hatred for one another
and the perpetual darkness that invades and makes up its kingdom. In many things the world
may agree and yet still the spirit of the devil is with them. We, on the other hand seek peace
and mutual understanding. The devil always looks over our shoulder in any dispute to see if
he can divide and conquer and to destroy the foundations of our faith, the fundamentals of
Christianity, for by doing so he divides and conquers. (Ps.11.3) He well knows that if we
each believe something different then we shall lack unity of spirit over the fundamentals of
Revealed Religion, and so shall lack both strength of purpose and trust in the fundamentals of
Christianity to fight the good fight of faith. The devil will stir up the flesh to make a small
matter into a large one, and how often he succeeds in this as we allow fallen nature to take the
throne of our hearts.

It is the work of the devil to destroy the fundamental foundations of all that we believe that
by doing so he not only attacks us but attacks our fellow man. It is our earnest desire to see
souls saved, truly saved, but the devil will oppose us in this and have souls come to a false
salvation, one that is acceptable to the world, that is comfortable. The devil will teach that
there are many ways to Christ. He does this so as to accommodate the various minds of fallen
individuals, who are totally ignorant of the right way. (Jhn.14.6) He would teach that mere
acceptance of Christ or baptism or good works or attending meeting houses or following this
teaching and that teaching will save their immortal souls. He will teach that man is in a hole
and that he can climb up and out and come to Calvary, if he but wishes to do so. He will not
teach that souls must rely completely upon the Lord for salvation. He is the author of
Palagianism and denies any Supernatural Act of God within the salvation. We, for our part
insist that it is the Lord God Almighty that effects a change in the heart and soul of man, by
his Holy Spirit, that it is only the Lord who can take a soul from out of the kingdom of
darkness (Col.1.13) and transport it into the kingdom of light, that it is a Supernatural Act,
that works within the world of spirits, and as it is done within this world, which man has no
power over, as it is done within a world he can neither see nor touch, it is beyond him to
effect any change within his standing before God, that evil man can do nothing, is powerless
to effect his own salvation, he might as well attempt to sail the oceans in a sieve than to save
himself by anything he can do in the flesh. And if it be so that the Lord deems not to save
souls, who are we to argue or to fight against God. (Rom.9.20)? They that contend against
Effectual Calling and Irresistible Grace had best take the matter up with the Lord and to see
what he thinks about the matter. (Isa.45.9)

If we are to live in peace then we must side with the Prince of Peace and give him his divine
right of rule. To do otherwise would be to side with the world, the flesh and the devil. We
must submit to the judgement and mind of our Creator and accept his ways as he has made all
things, and he has performed and continues to perform all according to his divine plan.
(Rev.4.11) It is hard to see loved ones, in particular, going the way of the world and though
we have love for them and would cry over them, we cannot pluck them out of Satan's hand.
They are his unless the Lord deems otherwise. This is a hard burden to carry, and on some
occasions the burden seems impossible. But shall not the Judge of the whole world do right?

Some will say that God would have every soul to be saved, and this is true. (1.Tim.2.4) “Who
will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” The unfortunate
thing is that man does not wish to be saved and has no fondness over the matter. Man is
given every opportunity and yet will not turn to the Lord that he might be saved. He would
rather fight with his Creator than be reconciled to him. Man fights against God and
everything that witnesses of him, and hence all the fallacies that man invents (Rom.1.30) and
the things that he does to remove the image of God ingrained and inscribed upon his heart.
What is Evolution and String Theory but an attack upon God, and the continual devastation
of the world and verbal and physical abuse of God’s creatures and creation is all an attack
upon it's Creator. Man is never at rest when it comes to his fighting against the Lord. He
takes up the sword and the spear and goes forth to battle. If he can do or say anything against
his Maker he will do so. He will raise his weapons of warfare and challenge Almighty God
to do his worst as he will not budge in his animosity toward him. He will cry, “I refuse to
have this man rule over me. I want nothing to do with him.” He will uphold and propagate
atheism as part and parcel of his opposition, and that he would cast his Maker down, within
his heart, (Ps.14.1) and take up ruling himself and make out that there is no universal Creator
and ruler of all, that things go on as ever they did, that divine intervention does not exist as
God does not exist. When the world is struck by death and disaster man will immediately cry
that it is natural not a supernatural event as they refuse to acknowledge the hand of God in all
things. (Rom.1.28) They will not admit it to be the hand of the Lord, the judgement of God
(Rev.2.27) as God is far from them, from their thoughts. When their very lives are turned
upside down they will not admit to the hand of God as punishing them for their wickedness
but simply claim that it is the course of life, the natural progression of things that everybody
goes through in this world, as being natural and not supernatural. With a spiteful, venomous
heart they continue to spit at their Maker and would spit in his eye if he stood before them.

The natural man hates God and will not accept his rule or judgements in the world in general
and in their lives in particular, and they hate him with such a hatred that the world would be
set on fire if they were allowed to express themselves more fully, indeed, on occasions some
are allowed to vent their anger and set the world ablaze in their attempts to physically set
themselves up as gods, in opposition to God himself, which shows what spirit they are of.
We must never forget that within the kingdom of providence all men share in temporal
salvation within the common grace of God, that mankind is saved from completely
annihilating himself, that there are times when man teeters on the brink. There are also
situations wherein souls are saved from the brink of disaster and many and untold miseries
(PS.107.19, 20,28), but for all this their hearts remain the same (v.21,31), stony and hard.
They must have a change of heart, a new heart planted inside by the great physician of souls,
even the Lord Jesus Christ (Ezek.36.26), who does not desire the death of the wicked
(Ezek.18.23), that is, the wicked provoke their own punishment. God is both Father and
Saviour of mankind in general and of the saints in particular, whose salvation is doubled as
being both temporal and eternal. (1.Tim.4.10)

It is of the Lord’s mercies that some are not consumed, but are saved, that the warfare they
were engaged in and the uncertainty of their lives are changed, changed for the better, and
that eternally. They now acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns, that he rules all
things and judges all things, that nature, man and the devil are not the rulers of this lower
sphere, that Christ is the reigning conqueror (1.Chron.29.11,12; Rev.11.15) and that the
prayers of the saints have been answered. In all this we have to acknowledge that the Lord
has separated a people unto himself, (Gen.3.15) and according to his eternal plan, they shall
be saved. Those who are yet carnal do not understand and may never understand the ways of
the Lord. Who in this world can understand how Christians do rejoice in fear and trembling?
These being two opposing feelings, juxtapose, laid side by side together and yet not in
conflict. How is it that life can come from death? (Jhn.12.44) How can we say the Lord
desires all sinners to be saved and yet they are not saved, that he will not save all and, indeed,
refuse to save every soul. (Jhn.15.22) God has the ultimate power to save mankind, and yet
does not do so, and it is no good for man to say that he is not saved because he resists God for
then God would not be All Powerful, that man is stronger and more powerful than his
Creator. The Lord merely has to speak (Gen.1.3) for every soul to be saved. This is the God
whom we serve and worship and own. Ultimate power does not lie with man, but rests with
God, even the Lord Jesus Christ. How can it be that those who believe in the fundamental
truth of election are some of the most fervent preachers of Christ, that they are passionate
over souls and do not desire the death of any (Rom.9.3) and yet know that there are those
who shall not be saved? The carnal mind does not understand these things as they are all
opposites. Only spiritual minds can hold and balance the two together. If we are a mystery to
ourselves how much more so must we be to the world. The more we walk with the Lord the
more balanced we become and more at peace with his ways as we become more spiritual than
carnal. Carnality of mind is death to scripture. (Rom.8.6) “For to be carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” The reading of Holy Scripture without the
Spirit, which makes it to be infallible and innerant, is next to useless and is of no profit to any
individual.

Those who love to argue against the construction of fundamental Christian belief need to
question their foundations as there are thousands of nominal professors of Christianity that
can know nothing of heavenly things. Where heresy is found it is needful to check the
foundation of those that are the partakers of it and those who spread it, for it is unprofitable to
attempt to convey to a dead professor the lively things of God as they will never understand
them, and we would show ourselves to be irresponsible to contend with such unbelievers in
religion. Where there is a sound confession of faith there is firm ground to build upon and to
encourage the erection of a solid dwelling, housing the truth, though it maybe a slow work,
yet it nevertheless is a good work that shall bear fruit in its season, unlike the tares who are
atheists at heart. (Ezek.8.12)
The greatest contenders against the truth generally come from the ranks of the soldiers of
Christ, from those who have taken to sitting in the arms of this present world, who take up
positions upon the side lines, having been ensnared by the trinkets of this world and caught in
the errors of the worldly passing salesmen, peddling devilish doctrines, (2.Pet.2.3) directing
and drawing their thoughts and feelings earthward, and so it is that they are not only
incapable of joining with us but perversely contend against us, from the side lines, and will
prefer to throw bricks, and stones (Jhn.16.2) at us rather than contend with the true enemy of
God, the world the flesh and the devil. Because of their position their thoughts and their lives
are insufficiently ordered so as to see any real danger of what they are doing and the danger
they are in themselves in contending against the anointed of the Lord. (2.Sam.1.16) Being on
the side lines they fail everybody and are as blunted knives, of no use to man or beast, and are
no soldiers of Jesus Christ. (Jude.3) Such would gladly fight us, and make us the enemies of
truth, and claim that because they cannot see what we see, then nobody can see. Their minds
are warped and crooked and wrapped up in so much carnality that heavenly things pass them
by, they cannot comprehend heavenly realms, and do not appreciate that in order to see the
world above one must leave this world below, (Rev.17.3) that an earthly mind is not a fit
mind to engage in spiritual matters. All such may make a stumbling profession of faith, may
adhere to what is commonly professed but they are not for ever stumbling in the things of
God. They must needs go and wash themselves from the filth of this present world, in the
pool of Siloam, (Jhn.9.7) from those waters that proceed from Mount Zion, waters of the
sanctuary, (Ps.46.4) and come once more into the house of the Lord God of Hosts, for he will
receive of his own, (Rev.3.19) as only he can. It is not uncommon to draw away from the
Spirit and presence of God, for we are human and traps and snares are all around us, but if we
willingly put ourselves in the way of danger, give into the flesh, follow the world, and so
serve the devil, we are our own worst enemies.

In conclusion and a few things we should consider, beginning with Calvary for there it was
that all this has come about. There it was that salvation was bought and there it was that it
was made known unto all, even from one generation to the next; an open declaration of the
fulfilment of the promise to our first parents (Gen.3.15) that allowed them to pass from the
kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light and from death to life and to enjoy all the things
that we now come to enjoy as part and parcel of our salvation. By the promise of a Saviour
the enemy was bound and hence we read, when Christ goes forth to do battle, that he “led
captivity captive.” (Eph.4.8)

At Calvary Christ fought on our behalf to win us to himself and to his Father At the cross the
powers of darkness assembled as it was their hour, (Lke.22.53) given to them of God. Every
wicked spirit, of every conceivable rank gathered on the field at Calvary, to wage war against
God and his Christ; and there it was that Christ took to the field with his loyal, faithful army
of warriors and with twenty thousand chariots, even thousands of angels. (Ps.68.17) We
witness the hoards of hell enveloping the earth and turning it dark by their presence as the
forces of darkness massed and marshalled themselves together for the fight. All natural light
began to fail before this army and the more they gathered together the darker it became
(Lke.23.44) which set the scene for the greatest battle that heaven and earth should ever
witness, as this was the great day of God Almighty (Rev.16.14) the battle for the souls of the
elect, the battle to fulfil the Divine Promise. The Devil and all his elect came from every
quarter of his kingdom, marching onward and forward toward the Lamb of God and his elect,
who, descending from the kingdom of God took up their stated positions, on the battle field.
There was silence, for a time, before the battle true commenced. Our Lord and our God, by
being here, showed himself both Faithful and True (Rev.19.11) to the promise of being the
promised saviour of his people. Both parties met upon the battle field and both stood firm
and resolute under the banner of their lord and captain; each one true and loyal to his cause
and to his leader. Neither party flinched for fear of that which was about the happen as all
parties had a resolute belief that they would gain the victory that day, the kings of the earth
had to be lied to (Rev.16.14) in order to have them muster their armies from the four quarters
of hell, for formerly they had witnessed the defeat of their great king in not obtaining the
throne of glory (Isa.14.13-15) and had to be convinced, yet again, of victory, and as they were
deceitful spirits, themselves, to be hardened in lies was not such a difficult task for fellow
brethren of hell and it went to prove that there is no honour amongst the wicked, that they are
equally as bad as one another. Staring across the field of battle, eyes fixed upon one another,
the banners were raised and the battle commenced; all parties fiercely engaged each other,
Apollyon being first into the fray (Rev.12.7) against the armies of heaven. (Rev.19.14) Light
and darkness clashed, truth and error fought one another that day.

Great Apollyon, grim and awful, steeped in gore and stained in blood
Death with all his fearsome forces, has besieged the Son of God,
Satan, clothed with evil armour, darkly gleaming, proud and cold
Merciless, he joins the battle, armed and clad with power untold.

Bowed beneath demonic onslaughts, Jesus fights His awesome duel!

Pain devours it's Holy Victim, searing, savage, raging, cruel!
Eager waits the Mouth of Sheol, huge, insatiable, and strong!
Maw agape, the Grave yearns after Holy Flesh but not for long.

Soon we witness the truth gaining the upper-hand (Rev.12.8,9) and the enemy are chased
from the field. (Ps.18.37) All the hoards of hell turned on their heels and fled away before
the Truth and Justice of God, with the Lamb pursuing after them showing that he and his
faithful army of warriors do not waver when it comes to the truth, to justice and judgement,
that they were true and loyal to God (Ps.18.39) and would not bend and give way until the
battle royal was won, till all their foes and ours were conquered. (v.37) Having overcome his
enemies Christ made them to fall beneath his feet. (v.38) That day not only did Christ smash
the power of the enemy over us, and led them captive (Eph.4.8) but took their kingdoms and
put them into his treasure chest (Rev.11.15), and hence he became more openly declared to be
the King of kings and Lord of lords. (1.Tim.6.15) All the titular kings and lords of the
underworld were defeated, whose world had previously been turned into darkness,
(Rev.16.10) upon their first rebellion. Christ came and saved his people from their sins, and
bound the strong man and spoiled his house, that day, (Mrk.3.27) delivering the captives from
their prisons, (Isa.42.6,7) to set them free. (Rom.8.1) “There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.” Being born of the Spirit we walk accordingly.

Apollyon has now to let us all go free for he it was that lost the battle, that day, for the souls
of the elect. The Ancient Prince of hell had risen with purpose fell.

At His Glance the mighty prison built by Law and Sin falls down!
Countless in their thousand thousands, all His Ransomed praise His Crown!
 Heaven and Hell’s astonished spirits in their joy and rage all stare
At the Victor of the Cross Who won His greatest Battle there.

Christ was shown that day to be both Faithful and True and that it was he who gave every
child of God the victory and broke, for ever, the powers of darkness, and so completely that it
crosses and spans the whole of time, as we see it in the Promise. Both the beast and the false
prophet were destroyed that day (Rev.19.20) for such was the efficacy of that battle that all
things come into the past tense, even our salvation as though we were already in glory
(Rom.8.30) and hence our reign across time (Rev.20.4) as being united in Christ and that by
his death and resurrection we died and rose with him, and a mixed people we are for there are
amongst us those who were beheaded for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and maybe their
might be others to follow, but all reign with Christ. We may lose our heads but we cannot
lose our salvation because the battle is ended and victory obtained, and outcome sure, an
outcome that cannot be reversed, it cannot be made null and void for it is ended, it is all over
bar the shouting. We can now pass through the gates of glory not having to taste the cruel
sting of death, (1.Cor.15.55) passing from one world to another without any inclining that
such a thing has happened for it will be in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. One
moment here and the next there. (1.Cor.15.32) We shall only have to witness the body passing
and struggling, on some occasions, in this world as it is so used to being here and will rebel
against departing. There is nothing that any soul can do to nullify the victory that took place
on the plains of Armageddon, (Rev.16.16) not one finger can undo the work of such great
salvation; only in corrupt minds is this possible but never in reality for Christ reigns
victorious. The devil hates this doctrine as it again displays that he was the loser that day and
the only way he can get back at Christ and ourselves is by trickery and falsehood and to send
some of his best men to convince us that there was no such battle and that he himself reigns
and that his kingdom reigns over all the world, that evil rules, and that Christ and God are
nothing but impotent and distant from creation, and the battle spoken of in scripture has not
yet taken place. The devil spews out his hatred against Christ and Calvary and every aspect
of that which he accomplished there. Satan will not have the full consequences known and
that there a battle was fought for the souls of men We should ask him and his ministers to
show us where in scripture the battle that took place on Calvary’s mount is illustrated as it
must feature predominantly within scripture as it was the battle for the souls of men. They
cannot. The best they can do is turn away from Calvary and try their best to side-line the
question, to avoid answering it and, as taught to wicked politicians, to prevaricate. We shall
get no change out of such for to reason with the devil and his ministers, against their will, we
shall find that they shall be of the same opinion still..

The last gathering of evil is going to be against all that speaks of God, even the city God,
(Rev.20.9) and his people. The forces of evil are said to come against our city and against our
Lord and against ourselves and that not a shot will be fired, not a sword raised or a banner
lifted or any of the armies of heaven gathered to do battle there, to defend all that is holy. Not
one angel or warrior of the Lord’s army can be seen, they are strangely absent from the
picture though some wicked minds would drag them in from elsewhere and so pervert the
word of God to satisfy their wicked imaginings, and from whence would they draw those
texts? from the very ones that refer to Calvary. Now, as the forces of evil gather themselves
together it is then that the Lord speaks (Gen.1.3) and the darkness dispelled, darkness is no
more, that it is all over in an instant. God in Christ but spoke the word and it was done. This
gathering did not take place in a field or on a plain but around the holy city, upon Mount
Zion, (Isa.2.3) Armageddon being many miles away from Jerusalem and hence we have two
different gatherings of the forces of evil on two different occasions and with two different
outcomes. There was no need for a second match as the first was the decisive one for the
souls of men for which it was fought. It is also to be noted that the Jerusalem that is above is
the mother of us all (Gal.4.26) which is symbolical of the Church, the Bride of Christ
(Rev.21.9,10) of all believers coming together as one in him. It is wrong, therefore, for any
to claim that the Jerusalem that comes down from above (v.2) is to be planted upon earth, that
it is an earthly, not heavenly. To claim, also, as many do that there shall be a mass conversion
of the Jews toward the end of time is wrong and makes Christ out to be an adulterer and a
bigamist for his Bride represents all the saved, therefore when the Bride enters into the
marriage feast of the Lamb (Matt.25.10; Rev.19.7-9) there is yet another Bride still upon
earth, a second Bride that Christ has secretly hidden in the world which he shall take to
himself and thus two wives, for the mass conversion of the Jews means a second Bride. It is
also an aspersion upon the character of God to claim that the earthly Jews shall be redeemed,
on mass, as this would make God out to be unrighteous as it means that he is involved in
diverse weights, and diverse measures (Prov.20.10) as he is made to pass by the holocaust
and the persecution of the Jews under kings and popes and then decides to redeem the last
remnant of the Jews towards the end of the world. This is an imbalance.

Now there shall always be war when it comes to the truth. This war continues on from its
first inception in the garden of Eden when Satan lured our first parents into sin as he began
his first steps to making war with the Creator. Although, initially the Devil won the first
round in leading our first parents away from the Almighty, yet it was a hollow victory for it
did not last long after all the offending parties were brought before the judgement seat
(Gen.3.15) to hear the verdict read out and the promise to have all things restored to their
former glory, in that the seed of God, that Satan had gone after, should be redeemed and upon
the promise of a saviour the victor fell before the throne and had to concede defeat and was
thrown out of heaven (Rev.12.7) being judged unfit for the communion of the saints and
angels above. Satan lost to Christ on both occasions as Christ was both the promise and the
fulfilment of the promise. Now in the fulness of time the debt has been honoured and fully
paid and heaven may now cry that “there is now no more condemnation to those who are in
Christ. The debt is paid”

It must never be forgotten or misconstrued that Christ and Christ alone has all power to lay
hold of the dragon. (Rev.201,2). ”And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that
old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” And again we
read (Rev.1.18) “I am he that liveth, and was dead: and, behold, I am alive for evermore,
Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (also Luk.12.20.) When Satan began his war
with his Creator, in the garden of Eden, it was there that he bound that although he had won
the argument and battle with our first parents concerning the world of God, which the devil
misinterpreted and caused the woman to do likewise, which then led them into sin, it was a
hollow victory for no sooner had the promise of a saviour been given (Gen.3.15) than the
devil was defeated and cast down into the earth and bound and chained by the promise, which
is Christ. The promise being so immutable, as Christ is, that its effects cross time until it
should reach Calvary’s mount and there find the substance and the honouring of the debt.
Hence, we recognise and have always accepted that there were those under the old testament
that were the saved of the Lord and that some were taken directly to heaven (Gen.5.22)
without ever tasting physical death. All were saved before Calvary ever arrived.
The devil knows that there is but a short time left in which to gratify his lust for wickedness,
that there is but a short time left to him as the account has been settled in the book of time,
the leaves gradually closing as the Lord draws ever nearer, each passing day, who, himself,
shall appear without warning as a thief in the night. (2.Pet.3.10) Christ shall not come as the
fools predict with a sign here and a sign there for the fulness of the kingdom of God does not
come with signs and wonders, with the observation of the carnal eye, but swiftly and without
warning having already begun in each and every heart of the regenerate sons of God it is but
a step away from them. It is noticeable that it was those who took upon themselves to be the
representatives of God, who were dead in trespasses and sins, that mistook the kingdom of
God as something that should be set up to defeat and destroy the enemies of Israel, that they
were the most convinced of all in this matter and had taught the people that the kingdom of
Israel shall once more stand and that the Messiah shall have his government there. In this
matter they convinced their hearers and would not budge from their pernicious teaching that
eventually put their Messiah to death. Their foolish teaching led them away from God not too
him. These foolish professors demanded an answer from Christ. (Lke.17.20) In their day it
was the Romans that were the enemies of Israel and now that the Romans are gone a new
enemy must take their place, even the Palestinians. What shall it be tomorrow? The enemy
that Israel and her friends should be looking for and be more concerned about is that which
lies within its gates, and lies within each and everyone of us, that is the destroyer of millions
and ruin of millions, that is, the heart of man, which is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked. (Jer.17.9) This they should focus their eyes upon and seek after the Lord,
peradventure he maybe found of them.

Those who put Satan's fall at Calvary misunderstand the scriptures and the heavenly and
eternal sense of them, for Satan did not fall at the cross as he has been resigned to the earth
since the fall of man, and his kingdom has stood since he fell from favour with his Maker,
and when he totally rebelled all the sons of men were cast into it, even the souls of all those
who where to be the redeemed of the Lord, that had been banished there for their sins.
(Ezk.39.24,27-29) The Cross confirmed his downfall, sealed his fate, that he should never be
allowed into heaven and that the promise of a Saviour was so efficacious that it bound him to
exist in these lower regions under the restraints of God. So faithful was the promise that it
could be said to have been done and that the devil was defeated by it, though the work had
yet to be performed, (Rev.12.12) for God works in eternity, that which he revealed in time.
Limited beings, as we are, we cannot always appreciate or grasp the unlimited mind of God,
in the way in which he presents matters, indeed, we cannot fathom the mind of God because
he is limitless and we are limited. It is only as we delve deeper into the fundamentals of
Christianity that our eyes are opened and our minds drawn into the truth of matters that
formerly we could not comprehend, that we obtain something of the mind of God upon the
matter, and only the true living (Ezek.37.12) children of Israel (Rom.2.29,29) are only fit to
seek the mind of God upon matters of faith and practice. Unsanctified, carnal professors of
religion cannot do the same, cannot grasp or appreciate heavenly things (1.Cor.2.14) for they
read and look upon scripture through the eyes of fallen man for they are yet carnal, and with
carnal understanding they attempt to grasp that which is far above them, that is out of their
reach. They can only read their bibles as they would read any other book, not having the
spirit of the God within their hearts witnessing with the scriptures and so they fall short not
appreciating the spirit in which the scriptures were penned, that spirit that lies behind them.
Some mediate influence may come upon them in the reading of their bibles but this is all they
ever receive, that influence that is with every written piece, whether it be fiction or non-
fiction, the mediate spirit of the writer is present. Foolish virgins always miss the mark as did
their father, the devil, who continues, along with them to fight against God. Try as they may
they cannot understand or appreciate scripture and as such many fall into the deep ditch of
error and end up instituting such wicked things as the Mass, idol worship, high altars and low
altars, Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism, Millenarianism, The Rapture, The Tribulation, and
a great deal more that spews out of men’s mouths having first been thought up in the
kingdom of the devil. Man’s fault is that he refuses to submit to the one true and holy God
and to bow the knee to all heavenly rule. Foolish virgins will always prefer themselves and
submit to their own understanding before they will acknowledge God and heaven to have rule
over them.

We should never be so foolish as to think, as so many do, that as Satan is a defeated foe we
have nothing to fear and concern ourselves over, after all we have God on our side. We may
treat the Devil as our foe, which he is, but treat him with respect for he is cunning and if we
treat him out of hand we are sure to fall into his net and be ensnared by him. We should
never treat our enemies with contempt. Only a fool will go about with his head in the clouds.
There are so many shallow, and way-ward children amongst the elect of God that it is hard to
tell the difference, sometimes, between the true and false professors (Matt.25.2; 2.Tim.3.5) as
they are led away by this and that personality and this and that doctrine, (2.Pet.2.1) giving
themselves over to worldly lusts and to deceitfulness whilst believing, all the time, that all is
right with them, that all is well with their souls and pattern of life. When Satan comes to
them and draws them away from godliness, (2.Pet.3.11) bit by bit, here a little and there a
little it will not be too long down the road that he will take the opportunity to whisper into
their ears that he runs the world, that he reigns supreme, that he is not bound, not limited by
anyone, that he is his own master. The time he picks is when the heart is more distant from
its country and from it’s God. “Look”, he will shout, “Look at the wickedness, all around
you, and now say that I am chained, ruled by a higher authority. Look with your own eyes,
hear with your own ears what I have done and tell me who has prevented all this? If Christ
is on the throne why does he not strike down those who would openly blaspheme the name of
his Father? No! I am in charge. I will do what I please, when I please.” And whilst the
shallow believer eyes the devastation around him, he begins to believe the devil; for their part
Satan and his chiefs laugh and snigger and roll about in fits, behind their backs, and chalk up
yet another gullible soul to the praise of hell, a soul that has strayed from divine pastures, has
strayed back into the ways of the world, that cannot get enough of the worldliness which
surrounds them. Their worldly ways they will introduce to others by word of mouth and by
bad example and will vigorously defend such ways and give pride of place to them, as even
they do with their televisions. It is one thing to have to live amongst the ungodly and the
wicked yet another thing entirely to make them a fixed piece in our homes for them
(Deut.7.26) and to let them entertain us. We should shut the door on the world, to its
violence, to its ungodly ways and ungodly thoughts and ungodly words and its humanistic
godless teachings (Rom.1.29,30). Our dwellings should be temples of the living God not the
hell-holes of Satan.

Again. The war that is descriptive of Calvary is completely overlooked and Armageddon
made to be the major battle of scripture. This has the imprint of the Wicked One about it as
the Devil will not have this battle to be mentioned. Lucither would have all battle scenes
taken and transferred to some future time and make out that the greatest battle is yet to come.
Apollyone hates hearing that he was defeated and so we repeat it, here, for we are proud of
what the Lord our God has done for us. We must always be on our guard for the enemy is
about who would seek to rob us of our peculiar status, which has long been the case in the
teaching of Jewish hegemony, that Jews have pride of place in God’s scheme of things, that
they are his people regardless of the fact that the Church, Christianity was formed long before
any earthly Jew was ever born. The Millenialists have, for too long now taught and intimated
that Christianity is an inferior religion, that Judaism is the religion of God, though they will
not admit this outright because it is not the done thing but this is what they are saying within
their teaching even if some do not recognise this themselves, as others do. It is about time
that Zion took back that which is rightly hers.

It is a sad fact of life that all false professors are creeping professors who will not have Christ
to reign over them, will not enthrone him in their hearts, but will gladly have him to rule over
others, on earth, and this is the crux of the matter and shows the spirit they are of. (Jer.14.14)
When the Devil decided to take his teaching of Zoroastrianism and to alter it and to present it
afresh to the world. He first put it before the great council of hell, which rose up and shouted,
“Amen “Get the printing presses out of the pit, let’s get started, right away, let us not lose the
opportunity that affords us whilst the darkness of so many minds prevails, lest the light of
truth shines in and our scheme comes to light, let us strike whilst the iron is hot and forge
ahead. We will work over time, nay! let us work till the end of time”. And all the
mischievous spirits rose up and shouted, “amen! and let our lord be true and God and his
word made to be a lie.” And the congregation of the wicked, again, shouted “Amen!”
Eventually the work was complete and it went before the Princes of the earth (Eph.6.12) who
approved of its content and passed it across to their rulers (Rev.19.19) that resided in their
various provinces. Now having been approved by these rulers and having received the royal
seal of approval all that was left was to find willing hands to publish it and propagate the
work throughout the world. Soon a people were found to do the infamous work, a peculiar
people who claimed to be the servants of the Most High, of that Great Potentate who sitteth in
the heavens, whose eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth. (2.Chron.16.9) To
apostate Jews this work was entrusted and that they should pass it on from generation to
generation and if any other spirit be sent from the councils of the damned, to add to this work,
they should be examined to see if they had the mark of their master and if they had they
should go unmolested and unhindered as they had their master’s authority and carried the seal
of his approval, the seal of their Master within their persons (Rev.16.2) that signifies that they
are of their father the Devil, and are about his business. Lucifer would have the work
changed, from time to time, to reflect the age it is found in. And so the deed was done,
Millenialism was born.